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IN ^IX VrOIiTTMBSA)
With. AniVer5 to majtat'the controverted Queitious,
Differ tations upon the molt remarkable PaHagres,
and a Connection of Profane Hiltory all alio jag.
To which are added, "Notes, explainiiio-diHicnlt lexis,
rectifying* Mil- tra dilations, mid reconcilrnp* Ceemuio"
Contradictions. C — r
TliuwholR illuftrated withpv opev Mats .
c -JSym^T&pci Alomar*. /ffiiwA<wj(^*^SL.*ynr.
E » INBFR GH.
Printed by Sands, MlJKKAY, and CoCHUAN,
rv.'For),.0
* Azttie** ^srteu/'oj Bookfeller in J^tYt/t <i //tor/-.
3fDCCLXIV.
TO
i
The Right Reverend Father in GOD,
EDMUND,
Lord Bifhop of LONDON,
AND
One of his Majesty's Moft Honourable
Privy Council.
My Lord,
nr HAT a book of this fize, by a perfon of
■*• my obfeurity, fhould, in fo fhort a fpace
of time, after fb large a number already print-
ed off, come to its fecond impreftion, muft
be imputed very much to the influence of
your Lordfliip's name in the front, which is
of weight fufficient to ftamp authority upon
any thing, and to induce both clergy and
Jaity to read what your Lordfhip has not dif-
dained to approve.
A z There
iv DEDICATION.
There is fomething however, I hope, in
the laudablenefs of my intention, which, in
conjunction with your Lordfhip's influence,
has been a means to conciliate the good opi-
nion of the public, and to give the work a
greater currency : for the defign of what I
now prefent to your Lordfhip, is, fo to me-
thodize, explain, and illuftrate the Historical
Part of the Holy Bible, as to remove the
difficulties in reading it, which fome have af-
ferted, and others complained of, with an in-
tent, I fear, to prejudice the world againft
it. And were I under no previous obligations
to your Lordship, the very nature of my
fubjecl: would remit me to one, who has al-
ways been a known encourager of works of
this kind, and who has himfelf fo glorioufly
maintained the truth and authority of thole
facred records, and both the evidences and
excellency of the Chriftian difpenfation.
Since it is our fate, my Lord, to live in
an age wherein divine revelation is rejected,
the fenfe of ancient prophecies perverted, the
miracles of our BlefTed Saviour degraded, the
myfteries of our holy religion ridiculed, its
laws and conftitutions flighted, and its guides
and minilters treated with defpite ; we ought
to account it the peculiar blefling of Heaven,
that in this great metropolis, we have one
preflding over us, who is fo well qualified to
withftand this inundation of impiety, who is
both able and willing to vindicate the caufe
of
DEDICATION.
of God and religion, and, by his example and
encouragement, to animate us in defence of it.
To you, my Lord, we owe a full confu-
tation of infidelity in your Lordmip's mod
excellent Pastoral Letters; to you we
owe that wife fyftem of directions for our pri-
vate conduct, and the honourable difcharge
of our minifterial office, which, if duly obfer-
ved, would make us unto God a fwect favour of
Chrijl^ and a glorious clergy indeed ; to you
we owe the knowledge of our ecclefiaflical
laws and conftitutions, which your Lordfhip,
with great care, and pains indefatigable, has
digefled and explained ; to you we owe the
defence of thofe immunities and privileges,
and the prefervation of thofe rights and pof-
fefhons, with which thofe laws and conftitu-
tions have inverted us ; and, however other
tongues may be iilent, my' gratitude, I hope,
will always oblige me to declare, that to you
I owe the prefent comfortable leifure I have
for ftudy, and the generous encouragement
your Lordfhip has always been pleafed to give
to my weak, but well-intended labours.
Whatever then, my Lord, the per-
verfenefs of this prefent generation may be,
future ages mufl be told, what an exquifite
judge and mafter of all ufeful learning, what
a firm friend to men of merit, what a true
patriot to your country, what a zealous de- '
fender of the Chriftian caufe, what a wife
guide and governor of Chrift's church, what
a
vi DEDICATION.
a kind protector of his minifters, and ftrenuous
alienor of their rights and privileges, you have
all along been ; in how large a fphere your
Lordfhip, thefe many years, has moved ; and
with what luftre you have always adorned it.
That the great giver of every good and per-
fect gift may long preferve your Lordihip, a
public blefling to this church and nation, is
the daily fervent prayer of,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
Moft humble,
Obliged, and
Beenham in Berk/hire,
April 7. 1 744.
Devoted fervant,
Thomas Stackhouse.
THE
APPARATUS
TO THE
HISTORY
OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT.
BE f o R E we enter upon the hiftcry of the (a)
Holy Bible, it may not be improper to inquire a
little into the truth and authority, the perfection and
excellency, the antiquity, ftyle, and other proper-
ties of that part of it which we call the Old Tejlament, (for
what we have to fay concerning the New muft be referved
to another place), the number and nature of the books
whereof it is compofed, and the feveral tranflations, and
other incidental changes, which, fince the time of its
publi-
(a) The books which we look upon as the foundation of
our holy religion, go under different names. They are ftyled
facred and divine books, holy writ, zn&holy fcriptures, becaufe
they were wrote by perfons divinely infpired, and do contain the
commandments of God himfelf. Our Saviour calls them the
fcriptures, by way of eminence ; becaufe no other book is com-
parable to them Several of the ancients gave them the name
of Pandcfi, and Bibliotheca Sanfla, as containing all the tracts
which were wrote upon the fame divine fubjetSt. Of later ages
the world Bible, (which comes from the Greek b£k!*, fignifying
books)
viii The APPARATUS,
publication, it has undergone. And this we are the ra-
ther induced to do, bscaufe a bolder fpirit of infidelity than
ufual, has, of late, gone out into the world ; teaching
iome to look upon all religion as a mere trick, contrived
by the arts of princes, and conferred by the intereft of
priefts ; othei-s, to call in queftion the genuinenefs of fome
particular books of fcripture, thereby to make way for the
iiibverlion of the whole ; others, to difparage the whole, as
a rude and unmethodical, a flat and infipid compofition, un-
becoming the Spirit of God to dictate, or men of letters
to read ; and others again, from the pretended fufficiency
of natural religion, to deny the neceflity of any divine re-
velation at all.
A divine What we are to underftand by a divine revelation
jevelation needs no great pains to difcover. (h) In the moil fimple
what" and obvious fenfe of the word, revelation is the making
that known, which was a fecret before ; and fo, when ap-
plied to a religious ufe, " it is God's making known him-
" felf, and his will to mankind, over and above what h^
" has made known by the light of nature or reafon."
this purpofe we may obferve, that the objects of our know-
ledge are of three kinds : Some; are difcernible by the li^it
of nature without revelation; fuch is the knowledge or
God from the effects of his power and wifdom, as (c) the
apoftle argues : Others knowable, not at all by the light of
nature, but by revelation only ; fuch is the falvation of
books) has univerfally prevailed. Bat how the word tej\ anient
came to be applied to the holy fcriptures, is not fo eafy a matter
to define ; only we may obferve, that the Septuagint's ufing the
word Aiati-/.*), (which fignifies a tejlament), might probably in-
duce the Latin interpreter to tranflate it by tejlament urn But
then we mult remember, that this word muft not be ufed in its
ordinary fenfe, as it means a man's lajl will, that is to be exe-
cuted after his death ; but, in a more general fignification, to
denote, a folemn declaration of the will of God towards men,
containing his laws, his precepts, his promifes, and the cove-
nant which It* has contracted with them. And foi this reafon it
is likewife cailed by the Latins injlrumentumt i. e. an authentic
deed, containing iolemn ordinances, or treaties, and compacts.
The books which comprehend what God revealed to the Jews,
are called the Old, and thofe which contain what he declared by
Jems (Thrift, and his apoftles, are ftyled the New Tejtament. Du
Pin's hift. of the Canon, &c
(b) Bilhop Williams's fermons at Boyle's le&ures. (c) Rom.
i« ao.
mankind
or Preparatory Discourse. ix
mankind by the death of Jefus Chrift, (d) which (as the
apoftle expreffes it) has, from the beginning, been hid in
Cod : And others, difcoverable by the light of nature in-
deed, but very imperfectly, and therefore ftand in need of
a revelation to give them a farther proof and evidence ; and
of this kind is that (e) life and immortality, which (die
Jame apoftle tells us) our faviour brought to light by the
gofpel. But now, be the revelation of what degree foever,
whether partial or entire, whether a total diicovery of
fome unknown truths, or only a fuller and clearer ma-
nifeftation of them, it muft be fupernatural, and proceed
from God.
That God can make a revelation of his will, either im- Thfe poffi-
mediately to our minds and inward faculties, or mediately ^j^^
to our underftandings, by the intervention of our outward £„„ onc_
fenfes, can never be queftioned by any one who coniiders
him as the author of his being, and therefore intimately ac-
quainted with all the fprings and movements of his foul.
(f) We find ourfelves capable of communicating our
'ioughts~to one another, either by means of a found of
words, which ftrikes the ear, or by writing, or other
fignatures of our intentions, which affect the eye ; and
. hy cannot God make ufe of the like means to imprefs
what idea he thinks fit on our minds, or to give fuch mo-
tions to the brain, as may occafionally excite whatever
thoughts he deiigns to produce in us ? or rather indeed,
why may not he, without any intermediate or occafional
caufe at all, enlighten the mind by a direct and naked view
of fuch truths as he defires it fhouid know ? for (g) he
that planted the ear, and he that formed the eye, fhall not
he have accefs to them ? or fhall not he have power of
communicating his thoughts, who teacheth man underflanding?
Since therefore it cannot be denied, but that it is pofiible The pro-
for God to reveal his will to mankind, let us, in the next j^'J^j
place, confider, which is moft probable, which moft agree-
able to the notions we have of him, whether he fhould, or
ihould not, make fuch a revelation. Now, if we may judge
of this by the general fenfe of mankind, we fhall hard:y
find any one, that believed the exiftence of a God, who did
not believe likewife Ibme kind of commerce and communi-
cation between God and men. (h) This was the foundation
of all the religious rites and ceremonies, which every nation
(d) Eph iii. 9. (e) 2 Tim. i. 10. (/) Fiddes's body of
divinity, vol. 1. (g) l-'fal. xciv. 9. (/>) Dr Sherlock's lcrraons.
Vol, I. B pretended
The APPARATUS,
pretended to receive from their gods : And, what gave birth
to all their fuperltitious arts of divination, was the perfua-
fion that their gods had a perpetual intercourfe with men,
and, by fundry means, gave them intelligence of things to
come.
And indeed it is hardly to be imagined, that God mould
make reafonable creatures on purpofe to know him, and to
be happy in the knowledge, and love, and admiration of
him, and yet withdraw himfelf from them, without giving
them any viiible tokens of his prefence, or communicating
any farther knowledge of himfelf to them, than what they
might perceive in the reflection of his works. A delire
to be acquainted with the will of the Supreme Being leems
to be fo connatural to the foul of man, that, in the more
civilized parts of the world, we fcarcely know any people
of note, who had not their Sibyls, fuch as they accounted
the mouth of their gods; and, without all doubt, none
were without an oracle, to which, upon all exigencies,
they had recourfe, and to whofe injunctions they willingly
fubmitted. And if fuch a deflre be implanted in us, the
confideration of God's goodnefs will not fuffer us to doubt,
but that he has made a proper provifion to anfwer this, as
well as our other natural appetites. Whereupon we cannot
but conclude, that the fame power and wifdom which made
man a x-eafonable and inquiiitive being, and allowed him a
world of wonders to employ his intellectual faculties in
the contemplation of, has likewife' taken care to fatisfy that
noble defire of knowing what the will of his maker is,
and what relates to his own eternal welfare : And that is
revelation.
Without this, indeed, the cafe is with him, as with
one that is born blind, (/) who, whatever other evidence
he may have of the being of a God, wants one, the moft
convincing of all, i.e. the wonders of an almighty power,
and
(;) Our excellent Milton, in that epiibde upon light, wherein
he bewails his own want of fight, very feelingly, has exprefTed
this thought with a great deal of lendernefs and beauty :
Thus widi the year
Seafons return, but not to me return
Day, or the fwcet approach of ev'n or morn,
Or fight of vernal bloom, or fummer's rofc,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine.
But eld id inftead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the che<irfu: \v?.j s of men
or Preparatory Discourse. xi
and incomprehenfible wifdom, ccnfpicuous in the frame
of nature, and the vifible parts of the creation. And, in
like manner, whatever fenfe fuch men as have only rea-»
fori for their guide, may attain of the mercy and good-
nefs of God; whatever they may obferve, in the courfe of
his providence, to confirm them in the belief of it ; what-
ever hopes they may entertain of it from a general notion
of the divine nature ; whatever defire they may have for
it from the fenfe of their own mifery : yet they want that
evidence of it, which alone can fatisfy and compofe their
doubtful and diffracted minds ; and that is certainty, or,
which is the fame, revelation ; by which, and nothing lefs,
that certainty is to be attained.
The plain truth is, if there be no revelation, we are, The necef-
as it were, -without God in the world; and, considering thefity oi:.hls
nature of fome events, cannot afluredly fay, whether the m^ l
divine providence interferes in the government of it, or
fate and chance happen to all things (k). If there be no
revelation, we are ftill in our fins, and have no fancfuaiy
againlt the accufations of our enraged confciences, the
fears of our guilty minds, or the juftice of an incenfed
Deity. If there be no revelation, we have no hope, can
have no comfort in our death, nor any aiTurance of im-
mortality after it. In a word, if there be no revelation,
we are in a perpetual maze, as if we were at fea, without
ftar or compafs, and knew not what courfe to take to gain
our harbour. And therefore the fame reafon which we
have to believe that God is good and gracious in all his other
difpenfations, we have to believe likewife, that, from the
firll creation of the world, he always vouchfafed mankind
fome revelation of his will, whereby to direct their conduct.
Adam, no doubt, was created, at firft, in the full per-t0 the £,ft
fection of his reafon ; and yet, if we take a view of him man,
in that flate, we fhall foon perceive, that he could not at-
tain a competent knowledge of many things, without the
afiiftance of divine revelation. (/) He felt indeed hjmfelf
ta
Cut off, and, for the book of knowledge fair,
Prefcntcd with an univerfal blank
Of nature's Works, to me expung'd and raz'd,
And wifdom at one entrance quite fhut out. Book 3.
(tf) Bifhop Williams's fermons at Boyle's lectures.
(/) Milton, whom I take to be a good commentator upon
what happened to Adam in his flate of innocence, introduces
him thus cxprcflinghimftlf :
B 2 My
xii The APPARATUS,
to be, but how he came to be, he knew not ; for he faw
nothing about him, that could either be fuppofed to
have given him that being, or could inform him how he
came by it. He law he had a body, but what that body
was originally made of, he could not poffibly tell ; for
how could he fuppofe, that fuch warm, foft, and tender
flefh, fuch firm- and well-compacted joints, fuch bright
and radiant eyes, &c. were ever formed of cold, fhapelefs,
and unadtive earth ? He felt his body move obfequious to
his will, but what that inward principle was, which moved
it, he was wholly ignorant ; nor could he poffibly, of him-
felf, conceive, that there was an immaterial fpirit, of a
diftincl nature and fubhftence, vitally united to it, and
what gave the fpring to all its motions. He call his eyes
up to the heavens, and there faw that glorious luminary,
which gave light (as he perceived) to all about him ; but
whether it was an intelligent being or not, or, when it came
to decline and fet, whether it might not be inclofed in per-
petual darknefs, he could not underftand. He found, to-
wards the approach of night, an heavy ftupidnefs begin
to feize him, and that he was forced to fubmit to its power;
but he did not know, but that it was to be the extinction of
his being, and that he was to clofe his eyes and conclude
his life together. This we may very well fuppofe to have
been the cafe of Adam, at his firft looking about him, im-
mediately upon his creation. Tor though he had what we
call reafon, in a fovereign degree ; yet even that reafon
muft have been his torment for a while, when it made him
inquifitive, but could give him no fatisfaction : And there-
i Myfelf I then perus'd, and limb by limb.
Survey 'd, and fometimes went, and fume times ran
With fubtle joints, as lively vigour led.
Bat who I was, or where, or from what caufe
Knew. not. To fpeak I try'd, and forthwith fpake:
My tongue obey'd, and readily could name
Whate'cr I law: " Thou Sun, faid I, fair light!
" And thou, enlighten'd Earth, fo frefh and gay I
*' Ye hills, and dales ! ye rivers, woods, and plains !
" And ye, that live, and move, fair creatures! tell,
" Tell (if ye faw) how came I thus, how here -
" Not of my felf — by fome great maker, then,
" In goodnefs and in pow'r pre eminent.
** Tell me how 1 may know him, how adore,
** From whom I have, that thus I move, and live,
" And feci that I am happier than I know." Book 8.
fore
Or PREPARATORY DISCOURSE^ XlM
fore it is proper to believe, (the wifdom and goodnefs of
God conftrain us to believe), that, in order to relieve him
under this perplexity, God took care, either by the mi-
niftry of his holy angels, or by fome immediate infpira-
tion, and imprefiion, to inform him of every thing, that
was neceffary for him to know, in the ftate wherein he had
placed him.
He had placed him now in a beautiful garden, and given
him great variety of fruits for «nis nourifhment and fup-
port. But might not fome of thefe fruits be defigned for
other purpofes than food ? or might they not have fome
bad and pernicious qualities in them, how apparently fair
foever, and inviting ? (m) Without making the experiment,
it was impoffible for Adam to know what food was proper
for his conftitution, which experiment (for ought he knew)
might have proved fatal to him ; and therefore we find God
giving him this direction: (n) Of every tree in the garden
thou mayji freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and
tvil, thou Jhalt not eat of it ; for in the day that thou eatejl
thereof, thou Jhalt furely die.
He had placed him, naked and defencelefs, in the midft
of favage creatures, all able and inclined to deltroy him,
had they not been reftrained by fome invifible power ; and,
in this condition, he muft have been miferabie beyond all
imagination* and under perpetual apprehenlions, that the
firft lion or tyger he met would certainly devour him :
but, to eafe his mind in this particular, we tind God giving
him ahurance to the contrary, and inverting him with this-
authority: (o) Have dominion over thefflj of the fea, and o-
ver the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth:
He had formed a woman, to be a confort and com-
panion to him ; but how he mould know any thing of at
future ftate of marriage, and \ the ties of conjugal affec-
tion among his pofterity, (/>) (as his words plainly indicate) ;
how he fhould have a perfect notion of father and mo-
ther, before there was any fuch thing as fadier and mo-
ther in the world ; fhould have clear ideas of the affec-
tion and endearments arifmg from that relation, and yet, at
the fame time, lhould perceive, that the affection and
endearments ariftng from marriage, would fo far get the
better of them, as to attach a man nearer to a ftranger,
taken into his bofom, than to thofe very parents whofs
(»/). Revelation examined. («) Gen. ii. 16. 17. (0) Ibid.
i. 26. (/>) Ibid. ii. 24. .
blood
xiv The APPARATUS,
blood ran in his veins ; is a problem which cannot bevre*
folved without having recourfe to divine revelation ; and
therefore we find our Saviour thus expounding it : (q) Have
ye not read, that he who made them in the beginning, made
them male and female ; and /aid, For this caufe Jhall a man
leave father and mother, and Jhall cleave to his -wife, and
they twain JJjall be one fefb ? So drat the words of Adam,
upon this occaSion, were the declaration of God himSelf,
and only pronounced by Adam, in confequence of an exr
prefs revelation from God. And if a revelation, in theSe
and fuch like inftances, was needful for the conduct of man
in his Hate of integrity, much more was it neceilary in, a
State of defection and general depravity,
and his pc- Whether we believe, then, or not believe, the account
-fterity. which Mofes gives of the devil's deceiving our firft parents
in the form of a ferpent ; yet, unlefs we will deny the
truth of all hiftory, we mult allow, that in procefs of
time, (both before and after the flood), the corruption of
mankind became uniyerfal ; and that their grand adver-
sary had fo enlarged his empire, as even to outvie the God
of heaven in the fplendor of his temples, the number of
his votaries, and the pomp and Solemnity of his worfhip.
(r) In this cafe, we do not. indeed fay, that man had any
right to the divine afliftance : that he had forfeited by his
apoftaSy ; and-where the neceflity is created by our own
fault, there lies no obligation upon the creator to provide
a remedy. But though God was under no obligation to do
it, yet, confidering the miferable circumitances mankind
were in after the fall, more efpecially through want of a re-
velation, we may reafonably conclude, that the benignity of
his nature would no lefs incline him to give them one, than
if he had been obliged to it by a Special promife or cove-
nant.
For how can we believe, that a being of infinite per-
fection, when he faw mankind under the deception of fin,
and the delufions of Satan, Should take no care to rectify
their mistakes, and reform their manners ? (s) Can we Sup-
poSe it confiftent with infinite truth, to Suffer all nations to
be expoSed to the wicked defigns of Seducing and apoftate
Spirits, without ever offering them any means to undeceive
them ? Can we imagine, that a God of infinite majefty
and power, who is a jealous God, and will not give his
honour to another, Should allow the world to be guilty of
. (a) Matrh. xix. 4. &c. (r) Bifhop Williams's fermons.
{s) Jenkins's rcafonablsnefs of the Christian religion, vol. 1.
idolatry ;
or Preparatory Discourse. xv
idolatry ; to make themfelves gods of wood and ftonc ;
nay, to offer their- fons and daughters unto devils, with-
out concerning himfeif to vindicate his own honour, by
putting a ftop to fuch abominations ? We have no true no-
tion of God, if we do not believe him to be infinite in
knowledge, holinefs, mercy, and truth ; and yet we may
as well believe there is no God at all, as imagine, that a
God of infinite knowledge fhould take no notice of what
is done here below ; that infinite holinefs fhoxild behold the
whole world overfpread with wickednefs, and find no
way to redrefs it ; and that fuperftition, and idolatry, and
all the tyranny of,iin and Satan, for fo long a time,
fhould enflave and torment the bodies and fouls of men,
and there ihoukl be no compaflion in infinite mercy, nor
any care ocer a deluded world in a God of truth. We
may therefore juftly conclude, that lince a revelation, in
the ffate of man's defection, was fo neceffary in itfelf, and
fo agreeable to the known attributes of God, there is abun-
dant reafon to be periuaded, that Gcdwas always inclinable
to impart one to mankind, whenever their occalions requi-
red it.
" But what occafion could there be for any divine re- An objec-
" velation (t), when, by giving them the light of reafon, *"">•
" (that per! ect and unerring guide), and implanting in them
" the law of nature, God had made an ample and ftand-
" kig proviiion, both for the inftru&ion of their minds,
" and the direction of their lives? when, by a due at-
'< tention to thefe, they might, at any time, be enabled
" to perceive all that was neceffary for them to know, and
*' to practife all that was required of them to do, without a-
*' ny fupernatural intei-vention, which, in this cafe, feems
" highly needlefs and fuperiiuous ? "
We readily grant, indeed, that the great principle of ac- Anfwered
tion in human nature is reafon ; inlomuch that to judge by flu-wing
according to its directions, is not the privilege of the philo- the .imPer"
fopher only, but a thing efTential to our very beings, and as C(" l°*
much infeparable from all perfons, as is the fenfe of their
own exiftence. But then we are to confider how fmalL
a portion of light any man's reafon has, that he can
properly call its own. For, (u) as we derive our nature
from our parents, fo that which we generally call natural
knowledge, or the light of nature, is a knowledge and •
(t) Chriftianity as old as the creation, paflim.
(«) Law's Cafe of reafon j or, Natural religion fairly and fully
(tated,
light,
xvi The APPARATUS,
light, that is made natural to us by the fame authority
which makes a certain language, certain cufloms, and
modes of behaviour, natural. Nothing, in this cafe, feems
to be our own, but a bare capacity to be inftrucled, or a
nature fitted for any impreffions ; as capable of vice as vir-
tue ; and as liable to be made an Hottentot, by being born
among Hottentots, as to be made aChriitian, by being born
among Chriitians. So that our moral and religious know-
ledge is not to be imputed to the internal light of our own
reafon or nature, but to the happinefs of having been born
>imong reafonable beings, who have made a fenfe of religion
and morality as natural to our minds, as articulate language
is to our tongues.
We allow, again, that there is a moral diftinction between
good and evil, right and wrong, founded in the nature of
things ; but then we affirm, that this is not from a philofo-
phicai contemplation of the fknefs of the one, and the un-
fitnefs of the other, that we prefer virtue to vice ; but from
the inftruction of thofe who had the care of our education,
and the formation of our judgments from our infancy.
When we arrive at an age of more maturity, indeed, and
happen to have a genius fitted for philofophical inquiries,
we may then deduce proofs that will eftablifh our notions
of fuch a moral diftinction ; but thefe, we rauft allow, are
an after-knowledge, not common to men, but accidental
confirmations of that fenfe of religion and morality, which,
more or lefs, was fixed in us by the inft itution and authori-
ty of thofe among whom we had the good fortune to live.
Now, if this be the true ftate of xxafon, as it is originally
in us ; if this be all the light that we have from our own
nature, viz. a bare capacity of receiving good or bad im-
preffions, right or wrong opinions and fentiments, according
to the particular country we chance to be born in ; if we
are nothing without the afiiftance of men ; nay, if we are
fooliih and helplefs animals, till education and experience
have revealed unto us the wifdom and knowledge of other
men ; then are we but weakly qualified to alTert and maintain
the abfolute perfection of human reafon, in oppofition to
the neceffity and advantage of a divine revelation. But this
is not all.
and depra- It is not only the imperfection of our reafon, but its
vity of hu-frequent depravity likewife that ought to abate our con*
faa fidence in it; fince, upon farther examination, we fhall
find, that all the mutability of our tempers, the diforder
of our paffions, and corruption of our hearts ; all the ex-;
travagancies
or Preparatory Discourse.
traragancies of the imagination, all the contradictions and
abfurdities which are to be found in human life and human
actions, are ftricHy ami properly the mutability, corruption,
and abfurdities of human reafon. We, indeed, in the
common forms of fpeech, talk of our reafon as a diftinut
principle from our paffions, amotions, and humours ; but
this is only a diftinction of language made at pleafure, and
without any real diftinction in the things thcmillves.
(x) The fame principle, which is the agent of all that is good
in us, muff be equally the agent of ail that is evil ; for
the action and power of reafon are as much required to
make any thing vicious, as to make it virtuous : and if fo,
reafon is certainly the worft as well as the beft faculty we
have ; and not only the principle of virtue, but the certain
caufe likewife of all that is bafe and ihameful in human
life.
Brutes, we know, are incapable of imprudence and im-
morality, becaufe none of their actions are actions of
reafon ; and therefore, if our reafon be the only faculty
which diitinguifhes us from brutes, it muft certainly fol-
low, diat all the irregularities, whether of humour, paf-
fion, or affection, which cannot be imputed to brutes,
muft iblely be afcribed to the faculty whereby we are
diftinguilhcd from them ; and, confequently, every thing
that is vain, fhameral, falfe, or bafe, muff be the fble pro-
duct of our reafon ; fince, if they proceeded from any-
other principle, they could have no more vanity, faife-
nefs, or bafenefs in them, than we have in our hunger ov
thirft. And if the matter ftand thus with our reafon ; if
all that is wife or abiurd, holy or profane, glorious or fhame-
ful, in thought, word, or deed, is to be imputed to it ;
then is it as grofs an abiurdity to talk of the absolute per-
fection of human reafon, as of the unipotted holinefs of
(x) Ibid. St Paul, indeed, in his epiftle to t!;c Romans (Clu
vii.) feeins to fpeak of two diftinct things, when he c -lis us of
the law in his mind, and the Imv in his members ; but in this he
might accommodate himfelf, in fome meafure, to the known
forms of diction, and yet poffihly mean no more than one and the
fame principle, conlidered in different views, or acting differently.
"Without the will or choice, there can be neither virtue nor vice
in any act we do j and yet it is a received maxim, ihzt voluntas fe-
qi'jtur ultimitm intellcEUts prattici judicium \ and though that judi-
cium does not always happen to be right, yet lviii it is the Ipring
vnd caufe of our action^ be it right or wrong.
Vol. I. C h' ■
xvi l
xvm The APPARATUS,
human life, or the abfolute infallibility of human conjec-
tures ; fince, upon examination, it is found to be a princi-
ple of an ambiguous nature, productive of vice as well
as virtue ; and capable of leading us into error, as well as
difcovering truth,
ranee 1q£°' ^ w^ b£ no disparagement, I hope, to the prefent age,
the beft to fuppofe that the ancient philofophers had as great ftrength
pKilofp- of reafon and judgment, as fincere a delire to find out
p =rs, truth, and as great diligence in inquiring after it, as any
of our modern unbelievers ; and yet, if we look into their
writings, we lhall find that they were utterly ignorant in
many great and important points of religion, and ftrangely
inconliftent with themfelves in others.
They were ignorant of the true account of the crea-
tion of the world, and the original of mankind; and there-
fore (y) ibme of them held all things to-be eternal, while
others (z) imputed them to chance; and thofe who al-
lowed them a beginning, knew nothing. of the manner and
gradations whereby they rofe up into, fo beautiful an
order.
They were ignorant of the origin of evil; whereupon
they devifed two contrary principles, in perpetual confiicT:
with one another ; and though they were fenfible that hu-
man nature was ftrangely corrupted, yet they acknowledged
that its corruption was a difeale, whereof they knew not
the caufe,. and could not find out the cure.
They were ignorant of any form of worfhip that might
be acceptable to God, and of a proper way to appeafe bis
diipleafure, when they were conlcious of their offences a-
gainft him; and therefore we find Cicero, the greateft and
beft philofopher th.xt Rome, or perhaps any other nation,
ever produced, (<a) " allowing men to continue in the ido-
" latry of their anceftors, and advifing them to conform
" themfelves to the fuperftitious religion of their country,
" in Ottering ftich facrifices to different gods, as were by
" law eftablilhed."
They were ignoi'ant, at leaft they taught nothing of the
exceeding love of God towards- us ; of his delire of our
happinefs, and his readinefs to conduct us in the ways
(}■) Peripatetics. (2) Epicureans. (a) A patribus ac-
ceptos deos placet coli ; De leg. /. 2. Item illud ex infiitntis.
pontificum et arufpicum non rauiandurn eft, quibus holtiis imiro-
landum culque cfeo. Bid.
«v
or Preparatory Discourse. xis
of virtue; and therefore (/») fomc of them made their fu-
preme Jupiter a folitary kind of being, wholly taken up in
the contemplation of his own perfections, and leaving the
government (of all fublunary things at leaft) either to lbme
inferior agents, or the guidance of a blind, unthinking
chance.
They were ignorant, at leaft (c) they taught nothing of
divine grace and affiftance towards our attainment of
virtue, and perfeverance in it ; and therefore we find (d)
others of them equalling themfelves to the gods, and ibme-
times taking precedency; " becaufe we have difficulties,
*' fay they, to encounter, which make the conqueft of vice,
" and the improvements in virtue, more glorious in us,
" than in the gods, who are good by the necefiky of their
*l nature."
And as thefe great philofophers were utterly ignorant of
fome, fo were they far from being clear and coniiflent with
themfelves in other great articles of religion. They had
but dark and confufed notions of the nature of God ; and
therefore the renowned Socrates ingenuoufly confeffed,
that all he knew of God was, that he knew nothing ; and,
for this reafon, endeavoured to draw men off from divine
and heavenly contemplations, (as being what he found too
iiigh for human reafon to underftand),and to betake them-
felves to the ftudy of civil life.
They had but dark and confufed notions of the fummum
bonum, or faprcme felicity of man ; and therefore Cicero
tells us, that there was fuch a diffention among them upon
this head, that it was almoft impoilible to reckon up their
different fentiments, even while himfelf is fetting down the
notions of above twenty of, them, all equally extravagant
and abfurd.
They had weak and uncertain notions of the immorta-.
lity of the foul ; for, however they might perceive it to have
a fpiritual exiftence, yet they could from thence deduce no
argument, but that God might deftroy it, if he pkaied : and
(V) Epicureans. (c) Non quis, quod bonus vir eflet, gra-
rias diis egit nnquam : Jovcm opihnum maximum ob cas res ap-
pellant, non quod nos judos, temperatos, fapientes, efHciat, fed
quod falvos, incolumes, opulentos, copiofos ; Cic- De nat. deo*
■nan, I. 3.
(J) Stoics. Eft aliquid, quo fapiens antccedat clcum ; ille,
Baiura? bencficio, non ftio, fapiens eft ; Se/i. epi/l. 53.
C 2 therefore
xx The - A P P A R A T U S,
therefore (e) Cicero plainly declares that, " which of the two.
fi opinions" (that the foul is mortal, or that it is immortal)
• ' be true, God only knows :" Which, among other de-
clarations of the like nature, might probably induce Seneca
to fay, (j) " That immortality (however delirable in itfelf )
" was rather promifed, than proved by thefe great men."
They had weak and uncertain notions of a future ftate •
for, though their poets had prettily fancied an elyiium and
an hell ; yet all fober men looked upon thefe rather as well-
contrived reftraints for the vulgar, than any matters of
their own belief : and therefore Socrates is introduced, as
faying, (g) "I hope there is a place, where I, and good men
" Hull meet ; yet I cannot affirm it :" And (b) " I wifh,"
fays Cicero, " that yova could prove to me that our fouls
" are immortal ;" fo that, after all, they wanted arguments
to convince themfelves, and ended all their difquiiitions in
a peradventure, and ;a Villi. But, what is more,
They had no notion at all of the refurreclion of the
body ; for, though their poets made frequent mention of
the ghofts of departed men appearing in a viiible form, and
retaining in the fhades below their former fliapes ; yet by
this (if they mean any thing) they mean no more, than
that the foul, after this life, pafTes into another ftate, and
is there invefted with a body, made up of light, aerial par-
ticles, quite different from what it had before : but that
the grofs matter, which they faw laid in the grave, and
turn to corruption, or burnt into allies, or blown away
in the air, mould ever be raifed, or collected again, and
revivified ; of this the moft fpeculative among them had no
conception,
aud their Thus ignorant, or thus doubtful at leaft, were fome of'
* l*f-r W
nr.morainy ti,£ greatefl. names of antiquity of thefe prime and funda-
cuineis: mental truths, which rauft be acknowledged the great bar-
riers of virtue and religion : and therefore we need lefs
wonder, that we land fo many of them abetting practices
apparently flagitious ; (f) that we find feveral feels efteem-
ing revenge, not only lawful, but commendable j and the
deSre of popular applaule the greateft incentive to all kind
of virtue : that we find fome of the greateft of them full
of the praife of felf-murther, and fetting themfelves for
the example of k to their followers : that we find Cato
(<?). Tufc Quart, lib. r. (/) Epift. tco. («) Plato in
Phieti. $J Tufc* "Qn»ft. (/) ' Vid. Eifliop of London's fecund
■■' letter,
commending
or
Preparatory Discourse. xxi
commending fornication as a proper remedy againft adul-
tery ; Plato, aliening the expediency of mens having their
wives in common ; and Chryfippus, teaching the worft of
inccft, that of fathers with their daughters, and pleading
the lawfulnefs of unnatural luft : that we find, in iliort,
whole fraternities degrading human nature into that of
beafts ; the Cynics, laying afide all the natural refhaints
of fhame and modefly, committing their lufts openly ; and
the Stoics affirming, that no words or fpeech of any kind
ought to be cenfured and avoided, as filthy and obfcene :
fo true is the obfervation which Quintilian makes of the
philofophers of his time, (k) '" That the moft notorious
" vices were fcreened under that name ; and that they did
" not labour to maintain the character of philofophers by
" virtue and ftudy, but concealed very vicious lives under
" an auftere look, and an habit different from the reft of
" the world."
And if thefe men of fpeculation, and profound reafon-
ers, were thus ignorant in their notions, and corrupt in
their principles, what reafon have any of our modern con-
temners of revelation to prefume, that, if they had lived
in thofe days, they would have acquitted themfelves bet-
ter ? What grounds to imagine, that they would have been
wifer than Socrates, and Plato, and Cicero ? (/) Had their
lot been among the vulgar, how are they fure, they fhould
have been fo happy, or fo confiderate, as not to be involved
in that idolatry and fuperftition, that wickednefs and im-
morality, which then over-fpread the world ? Had they
joined themfelves to the philofophers, what feci: would they
have followed, (for they were all erroneous), or what book
would they have made the adequate rule of their lives and
converfations ? Or had they fet up for themfelves, how are
they certain they fhould have been able to deduce the fe-
veral branches of their duty, or to apply them to the feve-
ral cafes of life, by argumentation, and dint of reafon ?
'Tis one thing to find out a rule at fk'ft, and another
to perceive its agreement with reafon ; and the difficulty
is not much (when once we know our duty) to begin
iind deduce its obligation from reafon : but to begin
and difcover our duty in all points, with all its true mo-
tives, merely by the help of natural reafon, is like grop-
ping for an unknown way in an obfeure twilight^ 'Tis
(4) Tnfh 1. t. prref. (/) Clarke's demonstration of natural
and revealed rfli
no
xxii The APPARATUS,
The bed ofno improbable opinion, then, that the difcoveries, which
their know- t]ie wjfeft of the heathen world made (even in points of
tradition, morality) were not fo much owing to the ftrength of their
own reafon, as to certain traditions which they might
either receive from their anceftors, or gain by the conver-
fation they might have with the Hebrews, to whom God
had committed the oracles of his will by the hand of his
fervant Mofes. For this is certain beyond all controverfy,
that the moft eminent philofophers, iuch as Pythagoras,
Plato, Democritus, and others, rinding a dearth of know-
ledge at home, travelled for improvement into other parts ;
and, as Egypt was accounted the chief feat of learning,
there were few men of note, who went not thither to
compleat their ftudies ; where, converting with the Jews,
(who were there in great numbers), and having the oppor-
tunity of conlulting the law of Mofes in die Ptolemean li-
brary, they might from thence collect many remarkable
doctrines, though (when they came to publifh them) they
chofe to difguife, and blend them with their own notions
and inventions. However this be, it is manifeft, that the
philofophers, who have lived fince the publication of the
gofpel, have, in their feveral fyftems, been much more
clear and uniforai, both as to the meafures of human duty,
and the motives requilite to tire performance of it, than
they were before ; which clearnefs and uniformity are real-
ly owing to the help of revelation, that has given us a far
more perfect and exact knowledge of the nature and at-
tributes of God, from whence many of our duties imme-
diately flow; a greater certainty of future rewards and
punifhments ; and a clearer conviction of the neceffity of
fobriety, temperance, and other moral virtues, as prepa-
ratory to our happinefs in the next life, by perfecting our
nature in this.
This (as I take it) is the true ftate of human reafon
jn its prefent ruinous and depraved condition : in its mi-
nority, equally capable of bad, as well as good impreffions,
and formed entirely by the examples we fee, and by the
inftitution of thofe who have the charge of our education :
m our maturity, the fouree of our paffions and defires,
our humours and appetites, and the fole agent of all the
evil, as well as all the good, we do : in the higheft pitch
of its perfection, unable to fettle any certain rule of mo-
rality, and beholden to tradition or revelation for the chief
and beft difcoveries which it makes : in the breaft of the
greateft philofopher, over-fpread with error, ignorant in
manv,
or Preparatory Discourse. xxiii
many, and doubtful in all the great principles and motives
of religion, and thereupon enihared in divers hurtful lufts :
and much more, in the breaft of the vulgar, funk into
ignorance and ftupidity, and thereby lubmitted to the wiles*
of the tempter, and (in) taken captive by him at his ivill.
And is this the faculty of which we hear fuch loud boafts,
and to which the ablblute perfection of immutability and
infallibility are afcribed ? "Is this (//) the fundamental
" law of the univerfe, that can tell us more than books
" or mafters, more than the two tables of Mofes, or the
" twelve tables of the Greeks, and of which all other laws
** are but copies and tranlcripts ?" Is this the only prin-
ciple that is allowed us, to inform our minds in all religious
truths, and direct our conduct in all our moral actings ?
This the only pilot, to fteer our courfe through this tem-
peftuous world, in the midft of fo many dangers, avoca-
tions, and mares ; with fo many lufts within, and tem-
ptations without, to carry us wrong ; fo many Syrens to air
lure us, fo many rocks to dafh us, and fo many waves to
fwallow us up quick ? Whether God, in this method, would
have made a fuificient provision for man's falvation, we
will not here difpute : but, to coniider human reafon (as
it is in fact) modified by the various difabilities, paffions,
and prejudices, which will ever prevail among the greateft.
part of mankind ; and then coniider every man left, in
this wild difconcerted ftate, without rule or guide, to
fearch out truth and happinefs by his own collections ;.
the detractions and perplexities, which muft needs enfue,
would make every wife man wilh for fomething better:
and if fo, what can we imagine more defirable, more ap-
poiite to the wants of human nature in fuch a cafe, than
that God lhould interpofe, and by an authoritative decla-
ration of his will, (committed to perfons ordained to that
office) inftrucl: the ignorant, and reduce thofe that were
going aftray.
" But fuppofe that God, in compliance to mens wants, £n objeo*
" fhould vouchfafe to give them a declaration of his will;tica.
'* yet ftill the queftion is, Who are the perfons that are
" appointed to convey it ? The pretence to revelation is fo
" common, and the number of impoftures fo great ; the
" difference between a divine impreffioh and a diabolical
" illufton, natural enthuliafm and fupernatural infpiration,
(m) 2 Tim. i;. 26. (/;) lid. Chrimanity as old as the cre-
ation^ p. 60. 61. ire.
xxiv The APPARATUS,
" is fo undiftinguifhable, and by us who live at fuch a di-
" ftance of time, lb impoffible to be adjufted; that the fa
" feft way is to fufpend our belief, until we have a fuffi-
" cient conviction, that what is offered as a mefiage from
" heaven, infallibly comes from God."
Anfwered, The moft ufual ways wherein God of old was wont
by. enu™e" to communicate his mind to mankind, were by virions, by
different dreams, by voices, and by infpiration. The Jewilh doc-
kinds of re- tors, who treat of the fubjecl, have many curious obfer-"
vclation. vations concerning the difference of thefe feveral kinds of
revelation ; but the moft plain and obvious diftinction feems
to be this That viiion was the reprefentation of fome
momentous thing to men, when they were awake, in
opposition to dreams, which were reprefentations made
to them when their external fenfes were afleep ; that
voices were either God's calling to men from on high (o)
(as he did to St. Paul) or his immediate converting with
them (as he did with Mofes) (p) face to face, even as one
man fpeaketh to his friend; and that infpiration was an
inward excitement of the foul of man, by the operation
of the Holy Ghoft, widiout any bodily perception or fen-
fation.
Thefe are the feveral forts and degrees of revelation
which have commonly been afcribed to God : and, what
do we fee in any of them, that he cannot, when he pleafes,
make ufe of, and that effectually ? Cannot he, by fome
vifible appearance, convince men of his immediate prefence,
beyond the poilibility of doubt ? Cannot he, either with,
or without fuch vifible appearances, talk as familiarly to
them, as one man converfes with another? Cannot he, who
formecTxaur minds, and knows all the ways of accefs to
them, clfaw fuch clear and bright fcenes, and pictures of
things on our fancy and imagination, whether lleepin'g or
waking, as fhall need no other proof of their divinity,
but themfelves ; even as light h known by itfelf, and the
firft principles of reafon by their own evidence ? In ihort,
why cannot he fo clarify the understanding by a beam of
light let in from above, as fhall be as evident a proof of its
divine original, as it is that the light proceeds from the fun,
K r , the fountain of it ?
perfons in- Whatever it may feem to us, who have not the fen-
fpired fation or experience of fuch divine reprefentations as the
plight jy8ge pr0phets had and therefore can no more defcribe them,
or their own r i
infpixations. •
(o) Actsix. 4. (/>) ExoJ. xxxiii. II.
than
or Preparatory Discourse. xxv
than the perfon who never had his eye-light, can conceive
what light- and colours are; y<~:, as the blind man may be
convinced, that there are fuch things as light, colour, fi-
gure, and fight, by what he hears and obferves from thofe
who are about him; lb we may be allured, that there was,
in the prophetic fchemes, that powerful reprefentation, on
the part of the divine agent, and that clearness of percep-
tion on the part of the perfon infpired, as would abun-
dantly make good thofe phrafes of vifion and (peaking, by
which it is defcribed in fcripture ; infomuch that fuch a
perfon, after fuch illumination, might as well queftion
what he heard and faw by the natural organs of lenfe, as
doubt of what was revealed to him by the impreffions made
upon him through the agency of the divine Spirit.
" But do not we fee enthulialtic perfons as confident o£?ow.^ .
" their infpirations and vifions, and (according to their^^ tn_
" perfuafion) as much obliged to follow them as thofe that ihuiiaiin :
'* are truly infpired ? How then lhall we find out the dif-
" ference, and by what criterion lhall we judge ?" It is
owned, indeed, that confidence in imaginary infpirations
may be fometimes very great, but then the perception, and
confequently the affurance ariling from thence, cannot be
equal, or any ways comparable to what is produced by a
real one. For, though God Almighty can fo communicate
himfelf, as that the perfon infpired lhall know moft certain-
ly that it is from him, and from him only, (in which cafe
there is no abfolute neceffity for any farther evidence), yet,
that nothing might be wanting to the full conviction of him
who had the revelation, God was frequently pleafed to add
ibme lign, or fupernatural proofs, in order to fatisfy the
party of the truth of his divine million. Thus Gideon,
when required to go upon a difficult enterprize, was cured
of his fear, and confirmed in his mind \q) by the fire out
cf the rock, -which confumed the flcjh and the cakes ; as Mofes,
when fent to deliver the children of Ifrael from the Egyp-
tian bondage, perceived that his commiffion was from
God, upon feeing the bujb bum without confuming, (r) and
the rod in his hand turned into a ferment : a courfe this,
highly neceliary to give the meflenger full fatisfachon, spe-
cially when the cafe is fuch as Mofes feems to put it, (s)
They xvill not believe me, nor hearken to my voice ;for they will
fay, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee. How we
" But fuppofe a perfon never lb well fiitisfied in what may judge
" he calls a revelation, and that (in his own opinion) h*2Jri»*C
(?) JJ('ges Vli 20.' (r) Exod. iVi 3. (i) Ver. I« fpired ;
Vol. I. D " »
::xvi The APPARATU S,
'•' is as fure of it, as he is of his being and exiftence ; yet
" what is all this to me, unlefs I am equally fatisfied that
" he really had fuch a revelation; that his pretentions to a
" million from heaven are true, and he far from being
" an impoftor ; but how fhall I judge of this ?" Why, the
Only way is, to coniider with ourfelves, what it is that we
might expect from the perlbn who pretends to be a mef-
fenger fent from God, and then obferve whether he anfwers
viz. from that character. Now, as a revelation is a divine com-
lus pcrf)n-mun;catjon an<j a j^^k 0£ divine favour, we may well
3.1 Cll3.r t CI"" -•
expecl:, that the perlbn who pretends to it fhould be a
man of virtue, good fenfe, and known probity ; cool and
confiderate enough, not to be impofed on himlelf, and too
honeft and upright ever to think of impaling upon others :
one who has no trick, no crafty defign, no lecular ends
to ferve, no vanity or ambition to gratify ; who difclaims
all worldly greatne'fs and emoluments, and intends nothing
but the good of mankind, and the glory of God, who
fent him : one, xfixb by his whole behaviour difcovers that
he is in earneft, and really believes his own commifiion ;
is, confequently, deterred by no threats, difcouraged by no
oppoiition, but goes on with undaunted courage, ftill per-
fiiting in the fame affertions, and ready to lay down his
life in confirmation of what he fays. So far then as the
credibility of a perfon is the proof of a revelation, and fo
far as the wifdom, probity, and finccrity of a perfon is a
proof o': his credibility, we have an evidence to reft upon,
and a character, whereby we may try the truth of his re-
velation,
from the As tne revelation pretends to come from God, we may
fubjedt- reafonably expect, that it fhould be confonant to the notions
jnatter or we have of the divine attributes, and conducive to the
happinefs and initruction of man ; that therein' we fliould
find the moft lively characters of the divine perfections,
juctice and power, fet forth in all their authority, to ad-
minifter matter of terror to the wicked ; but fo tempered
with mercy and kindnefs, as to raife the hopes, and attract
the love, and eftablifh the comfort of the righteous :
therein to find the' myfteries of the divine counfels un-
folded, and the beauty and harmony of divine providence
difplayed, as far as God's government of the world, and
the condition of mankind in it will permit : therein to
find the belt principles and precepts to inform and direct
us in what we are to know and do, the belt arguments and
motives for our encouragement, and the beft means and
expecl ients
Jition
or Preparatory Discourse. jxvil
expedients for the purifying and perfecting of our natures :
therein, laftly, to find the chief fubjects of human in-
quiry, and what is belt and moft neceffary foi> mankind to
know, the creation of the world, the origin of evil, the
fupervention of grace, the condition and certainty of a
future ftate, and by what method God may be appeafed,
forgivenefs obtained, and the heavy load upon human na-
ture, arifing from the fenfe and confcioufnels of fin, re-
moved. So far then as its fublimity and ufefulnefs are an
indication of its divine original, we have another evidence
to reft upon, and a farther character whereby we may try
the truth of a revelation.
Once more, . we may expect, that a perfon coming and rhc mi-
with fuch high pretentions, ihould give us fprrie proof of!a™ ?us a£
his delegation from heaven, either by predicting events ,~-lvcn t0 itl
of a veiy uncertain contingency, or performing works of a°
very fupernatural kind, in confirmation of it : and, fmce
miracles and prophecies require a divine power, and are
always looked upon as an authentic evidence of a divine
coinmiffion, the man who does thefe, and docs them fair-
ly, without fraud or coilulion, muft certainly be a pro-
phet fent from God ; otherwife we muft be reduced to the
neceffity of allowing, that God may fometimes employ his
power for the confirmation of a falfehood, and fet the
broad feal of heaven, as it were, tcra lie ; which is con-
founding the notions we have of him, and inverting all his
attributes.
Thefe then are the marks and tokens whereby we
may judge of the truth of a revelation at any time : the
credibility of the perfon who brings it; the excellency of
the doctrine he teaches; and the divine atteftation which
he produces. Where thefe are concurring, and with one
mouth, as it were, giving in their evidence, we cannot
but fay that it is the voice of God, and a revelation, which
carries upon it the confpicuous ftamp of his authority. And
now, to try the pretentions of thofe in the Old Teftament
who claimed fuch commiflion from God by the foregoing
marks and characters :
"hat there was really fuch a perfon as Mofes is atti fc- >, ^-„
ed by many of the (t) heathen writers, who fpeak of aal
as an extraordinary man, and the founder of t&e<Jewifh;c'ura'^cri
laws and religion. That this Mofes pretended to have this yfifdom •
(.') Vid. Grct. Dc veritate, lib. i. where he enumerates fe-
ral.
D :, religion
sxviii The APPARATUS,
religion from God, and whatever he wrote or delivered
to the people, to receive from him by immediate revela-
tion, is plain to any one who looks into his writings. But
that his pretenlions in this refpedr. were real ; that he ac-
tually received what he delivered from the mouth or in-
fpiration of God, and was neither capable of being deceived
himfelf, nor defirous to impofe on others ; this will appear
from the evidence we have of his wifdom and veracity ;
from the nature and tendency of his precepts and doc-
trines ; and from the miraculous demonitrations he gave of
his commiffion. In order to which it will be neceffary for
us to look a little into the facred records : deliring, how-
ever, that no more credit may be given to them (as yet)
than what is ufually given to any other narrative of tole-
rable repute, concerning the actions of perfons who lived in
former ages.
Now, beiides the account of his flvange and miraculous
preiervation, the fcriptures acquaint us, that he (u) was
brought lip in Pharaoh's court, educated in all princely qua-
lities, and/killed in all the learning of the Egyptians. What
the (x) learning of the Egyptians was, we need not here
relate : if we will believe Macrobius, who, ( y) in one
place, makes Egypt the mother of all arts, and, (z) in
another, the Egyptians the fathers of all philofophic fcien-
ces, there was not a nation under the fun that could com-
pare with them. How can we then imagine, that a perfon
bred up in all the polite literature of Egypt, and converfant
amongit the wifeft philofophers of Pharaoh's court, fhould
not be able to pafs a judgment between an impofture and a
truth, between a familiar converfe with God, and a de-
ception of his fenfes ? Can we think that he, who had fuch
opportunities of railing himfelf to the higheft pitch of ho-
nour, fhould willingly forfake all his prefent pleafure and
future advantages, had he not been fully perfuaded of the
certain and undoubted truth of the matters which he re-
corded ? Is it poffible, that a man of common fenfe and
prudence mould ever venture himfelf upon an affair lb ha-
zardous, and unlikely to fucceed, as that which he under-
took, had it not been by the mitigation of that God who
appeared to him, and promifed him the affiftance of his
power, to enable him to accomplilh his deiign ? And what
(«) Heb. xi. 2 J. Actsvii. 22. (x) Vid. Stillingflcet's Orig.
Sac. (7) Macrob. Saturn, lib. 2. cap. 15. (z) Som- Scip.
lib. I. cap. 19.
tolerable
or Preparatory Discourse. xxix
tolerable ground can we have to imagine, that a perfon,
who really believed the truth of what God had revealed
to him, fhould dare to write otherwife than it was re-
vealed ?
To extol himfelf, or aggrandize his nation, may be and difm^
thought a probable inducement : but fo far is he from mag- terefted-
nifying himfelf, that he omits no opportunity of record-
ing (a) his own failings and mifcarriages ; paffes over in
filence his own (b) qualities and (c) achievements ; and
opens the account of his miniftry with the relation of a
fact, (d) (the murther of the Egyptian), which nothing but
the prefumption of his being acted by a divine authority
can juftify or excufe. Now, had it been any part of his aim
to have raifed his reputation into a fuperftitious veneration
among the Jews, or to have eflabliihed his family in any
high degree of honour and authority, how eafily might
he have done it ? It was but concealing what might feem to
deprefs the one, and uiing the power he had to advance the
other : but inftead of that, we find him very fecure and
carelefs in both refpects ; relating his own faults without
difguife or extenuation ; conferring (e) both the civil and
ecclefiaftical power upon other families, and leaving his own
in the meaneft fort of attendance upon the tabernacle.
And fo far was he from aggrandizing his nation, that he
fets forth the lels, as well as the greater enormities of their firft
progenitors ; that he fpares not the ftock of his own family
Levi, but records very punctually (f) his and Simeon's in-
humanity to the Schechemites ; and, through the whole
courfe of his hiftory, feems as- if he were defcribing (g) the
obftinacy, and unbelief, and unthankfulnefs, and difobe-
dience of a people towards a gracious God, rather than any
way enhancing their reputation in the world. Hither-
to it appears, that Mofes acted like an honeft and iincere
man ; let us, in the next place, make fome inflection into
the revelation he makes, both as an hiftorian and a law-
giver.
(a) Exod. iv. 10. 13. Numb. ii. 10. n. Chap. 20. 12.
(6) Heb. xi. 25. Acfsvii. 22. (c) Jofcphus relates,
that Mofes, for fome years, was general to Pharaoh, and that
he obtained a very iignal viitory over the Ethiopians.
(d) Exod. ii. 12. (e) Vid. Grot. De verir. and Shuck-
ford's conned, of the facred and profane hilt, lib. 12.
(/) Gen. xxxiv. (g) Deut. ix. 7. ire.
As
xxx The APPARATUS,
TTicfub- As an hiftorian then, what could he deliver to the world
treats of asmore becoming the Majefty of God to impart, and the ne-
an Ixiflori- cefiities of men to know, than the origin of the univerfe,.
an- and the firft beginning of all things ; than the formation of
man, his ftate of innocence at firft-, his fall, and the con-
fequential evils of it; his redemption, and the glorious hopes
and expectances of the new covenant : than the propagation
of mankind, their general defection, the univerfal deluge,
the confuiion of tongues, and thereupon the plantation of
families, and origin of kingdoms ; than the felection of
one particular family (of which Chrift was to come in the
flefh) from the reft of mankind, and the many wonderful
works which God did to redeem them from bondage, and
conduct them through the wildernefs, until he had fettled
them in the promifed land, and given them laws and ordi-
nances, whereby they were to live ?
Wherein o- Thefe are ibme of the great iubjects which Mofes has
ther hifto- treated of in the Pentateuch ; and it is no fmall confirmation
widihurT °^ t^ie^r trut^ anc* reality, that we rind the feme things
related much in the fame manner by the moft ancient and
beft authors. What Mofes fays of the origin of the world
is (/;) recorded in the old hiftories of the Phoenicians and
Egyptians. The formation of man according to the image
of God, and his dominion over other creatures, is defcribed
by Ovid, who had it from the Grecians. The hiftory of
Adam and Eve, the tree of knowledge, and the tempting
Terpen:, were found formerly among the Indians, as Maimo-
nides tells us, and is (till among the Brachmans, and inhabi-
tants of Siam, as later voyagers report. The hiftory of the
deluge, of the ark, and of thofe who were faved therein, is
recorded by Berofus, by Plutarch, andLucian; nay, Abyde-
nus (as he is cited by Eufebius) makes mention of the veiy
dove which was fent out to explore the waters. The building
of the tower of Babel, and the giants attempting to reach
the height of heaven, is the common tale of eveiy poet.
The burning of Sodom is related by Diodorus, Strabo, and
Tacitus. The account of Abraham, Ifaac, Jacob, and Jo-
feph, in the fame manner as Mofes relates it, was found in
many ancient hiftorians quoted by Eufebius, and is ftill extant
in Juftin, from Trogus Pompeius ; and (to mention no more)
the actions of Mofes himfelf, how he led the people of If-
rael out of Egypt, received the two tables of the law from
the hand of God, and inftituted fevcral rites and religious
(h) Vid. Grot. De veritate.
obfervances.
or Preparatory BispouRSE. xxxi
obfervances, are to be found in moff. of the fame authors,
but more especially in the verfes which are afcribed to Or-
pheus, and in hiftories which treat of one affairs of Egypt. a* a k*''
Thus confonant to the greatnefs and majefty of God, s'vcr'
and the received opinions of the earlieft ages of the world,
are the hiiloric facts which Mofes relates. And (to con-
fider him in his legiflative capacity) what can be more a-
greeable to the notions we have of God, than the prohi-
bition of idolatry and poly.th.eiim, and the inftitution of his
true religion and worlhip ; than the prohibition of perju-
ry and vain fwearing, of theft, of murder, of adultery,
of covetoufneis of all kinds ; and the injunction of the con-
trary virtues, of juftice and mei*cy, of chaftity and cha-
rity, together with all due reverence to parents, both in a
natural and civil capacity ? What can be more becoming the
character of a divine legiflator, than his often inculcating
upon the people (as we find almoft in every page Mofes
does) the many obligations they had to God, and the in-
numerable favours they had received from him ; his frequent
and pathetic exhortations to obedience, and living anfwer-
ably to the lingular mercies conferred upon them ; his con-
ftant reminding them of their former mifcarriages, their
murmurings and rebellions againft heaven, and his com-
panionate forewarning them of the judgment of God, and
of the various plagues and punifhments which would cer-
tainly be the confequence of their perfifting in their fins ?
Nay, the very ceremonial precepts (which he enjoins to cfif-
criminate them from other nations) are a fufficient indica-
tion that he received them from God ; fince, had they been
of his own invention, he would have confulted the people's
eafe, and his own popularity more ; and (*) not impofed
fO many laborious and expenfive ordinances, fo many fa-
crifices, both flated and occalional, fo painful an inftitution,
as that of circumcilion, and fuch annual and weekly cefTa-
tions from labour, as were apparently againft the intereft
of a nation, whofe great fubfiitence was upon pafturage
and agriculture. Nor can we conceive how any people
would have fubmitted to fuch arbitrary injunctions, but that
they were fully fatisfied they came originally from God,
and were only delivered to them by the hand of his fervant
Mofes. And, for their farther convict ion of this, they had
all the evidence that could be required, the prediction of
events, which none but God could foreknow, and the de-
(*) Shuckfjrd's connection. Ibid.
tnonftration
xxxii The APPARATUS,
monftration of miracles, which none but God could per-
form.
His mira- -pov not to mfift at prefent (/) on the feveral prophe-
cies (contained in the Pentateuch) which Moles himfelf fore-
told, and accordingly came to pafs ; what can we account
the whole method of his conducting the people of Ifrael
out of Egypt, both in its progrefs, and in its execution,
but one continued miracle ? Nothing but a feries of won-
ders, furprizing in their nature, and dreadful in their ef-
fects, could have prevailed with Pharaoh to let the people
go ; and nothing but a divine power, which went out be-
fore the people, could have given them a free pallage, and
the Egyptians a total overthrow in the red fea. The
wonderful fupport of fo great a multitude in a wafte and
barren wildernefs, when neither their raiment decayed,
nor their bread and water failed, and the victories they
afterwards gained in their way to the promifed land, were
both convictions of the Almighty's power, and a confir-
mation of the truth of the Mofaic revelation ; fince it
would be impious to fuppofe, that Providence would, in
the light of the heathen, have favoured Ifrael with fuch won-
derful fuccefTes, under the conduct of a leader who only
pretended to act and make laws by an authority which he
was not really inverted with. So that the whole turns
ultimately upon the veracity of God. The conflant ap-
prehenlions which both reafon and religion give us of him,
forbid us to imagine, that he will employ his power to de-
ceive his creatures ; and yet, if he mould permit the fame
evidences to be produced for errors as for truth, this would
be a way to put a deception upon them, as well as to. cancel
his own credentials, and make miracles of no fignificance
at all.
A recapitu- Upon a review then of what has been faid in relation to
iation of Mofes, viz. that he was a perfon of great wifdom and
HicntrSU" integrity, unlikely to be impofed on himfelf, and unwilling
to impofe upon others, and without any private defigns of
popularity., or felf-exaltation in what he did ; that, as an
hiftorian, he related facts necefTary for man to know,
and becoming the nature and majefty of God to reveal ;
as a legifiator, gave laws and ordinances, which had a
manifeft ftamp of divine authority ; as a prophet, foretold
fuch things, as none but God (who has all events under his
intuition) could know ; and, as a worker of miracles, did
(/') Vid. Exod. xxiv. Numb. xiv. Deut. xxviii. 53. com-
pared wijh Jofephus, De bell. Jud. lib, vii.
fuch
or Preparatory Discourse. xxxili
fuch things as had all imaginable evidence of an almighty-
power affifting him: it will neceflkrily follow, that, as hire
as God is true, and cannot be an abettor of falfehood, what
he did, was by the order and appointment ; what he deli-
vered, was exprefsly the will ; and whit he wrote (for the
books that go under his name we ftiall hereafter prove to
be his) was infallibly the word of God.
That there was to be a fucceffion of prophets after the educa-
Mofes, is very plain, not only from the ruies which God has tl0n ° c-
(k) prefcribed for the trial of them, but from that exprefs
promife likewife which Mofes made to the people : A
prophet will the Lord thy God raife up to thee of thy bre-
thren, like unto me, unto himjhalt thou hearken. For though
the words, in their full and compleat fenfe, relate to Chrift,
who is the great prophet of the church ; yet, whoever at-
tends to the main fcope of them, will eafily perceive, that
their immediate afpecf is towards an order of prophets
who fhould fucceed Mofes, to inftruct the people in the
fpiritual fenfe and true obligation of the law ; and to
make fuch farther discoveries of the Almighty's will, as
he, from time to time, fhould give them comrniffion
and authority to do. And to this purpofe we may obferve,
that the firft fchools of thefe prophets among the Jews,
were in the cities of the Levites, which, fortheconve-
niency of inftructing the people, were difperfed up and
down in the feveral tribes ; that (/) the firft inftitution of
thefe fchools feems to be about Samuel's time ; and that he
very probably was ordained prehdent over one or more of
them, and had the care and tuition of fuch as were to be
trained up to the prophetic office.
In what paiticular manner they were there trained up, in
order to obtain a previous difpoiition to prophecy, the fcrip-
ture is not exprefs ; but this we may fuppofe, that they were
put upon fuch ftudies and fpiritual exercifes as had a ten-
dency to improve their understandings and natural abilities,
to regulate their paffions and appetites, and to raife their
affections to things fublime ; that they were employed in
fearching out the hidden Ccnfe of the law, in contemplating
the nature and attributes of God, in adoring him, and ce-
lebrating his praifes. To which purpofe, becaufe there was
a certain quality in it to allay the paffions and elate the
heai t, they always made ufe of mufic, both vocal and in-
ftrumental ; for lb the firft company of prophets (m) that
(k) Deut. xvili. 2t. 22. (/) Via. Stillingflcet's Otig Sac. and Lew-
i's Orig. Hebr. lib. 2. c. 15. (;/;) Whcatly's School of the Prophets.
Vol. I. E ws
xxxiv The APPARATUS,
we read of are defcribed, (n) coming down from the high
place, with a pfaltery, and a tabrct, and a pipe, and a harp
, . a before them.
grity • Out of thefe feminaries, or colleges of prophets, God
ufually made choice of perfons to be fent upon meiTages ;
though he did not fo ftrictly tie himfelf up to this method,
but called fometimes one from the court, as he did Ifaiah,
and fometimes one from the herds, (as he did Amos), and bad
them go, and.prophefy to the houfe of Ifrael. And whenever he
made choice of any one, he always gave him fuch a full
conviction, both of the reality of his own infpiration,
and the importance of the menage he fent him upon, as
made it impoffible for him to refift the impulfe ; for fo
Ezekiel tells us of himfelf : (o) The Spirit lifted me up, and
took me away, and I went in bitternefs, and in the heat of
ray fir it ; for the- hand of the Lord was ftrong upon me.
And indeed, confidering that die prophets were men of fo-
ber fenfe, and moft of them of very liberal education, we
can hardly believe that they would have ventured upon fo
hazardous an employ, where perfecution was fure to be their
lot, had they not been urged to it by an immediate and irre-
iiftible call from Heaven. The apoftle has given us a very
dolorous defcription of the many calamities which their
profeffion brought upon them : (p) They had trials of cruel
mockings and jcourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and im-
prifcnmenis : they were floned, were fawn af under, were
tempted^ were Jlain with the fword, &c. Now, what men
* in their fenfes would have expofed themfelves to all thefe
perfecutions and fufferings, in the execution of an office,
had they not been perfuaded of the truth of their vocation,
and under an indiipenfable neceffity to purfue it, whatever
penalties might ftand in dieir way ?
Nothing then can be more evident, than that the pro-
phets (if we allow them to be men of common fenfe) were
men of integrity likewife, and far from pretending to a
commiffion which they had not ; fince (in acceffion to what
has been faid) the doctrines they taught, the predictions
they gave, and the miracles they did, loudly proclaimed
them to be fent from God.
the excel- For what can he more fuitable to the nature of Goda
'"hJC df ^ian *hofe exprobations of fuperftition and idolatry, and
%rine • thofe many exhortations to inward piety and real holinefs,
(») i Sam. x- 5. (0) Ezck. iii. 14. (/>) Hcb. xi. 36. 37.
fo
or Preparatory Discourse. xxxv
fo frequently, lb kindly occurring in the prophets ? {q)
Wherewithal Jhall I come before the Lord, and bow my-
felf before the moft high Cod? Shall I give my jirjl-born
for my tranfgrefjion, the fruit of my body J or the fin of my
foul? No. God requires nothing of thee, but todojvftly,
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before him. What
can be more agreeable to the divine mtvcj and goodnefs,
than thofe earned calls and invocations to repentance ? (r)
Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways j for why will ye die,
0 houfe of Ifrael! For, as I live, faith the Lord, I have no
pleafure in the death of the wicked. What is more con-
ducive to the honour and glory of God, than thofe rap-
turous fongs of prail'e wherewith the Pioyal Pfalmift tunes
his harp, and thofe tender ftrains of grief wherewith the
mournful prophet wets his bed ? (s) Oh ! that my head
were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I
mivht weep day and night for the flain of the daughter of
my people. What difcovery can be of fuch importance,
as that of the birth and high character of the Saviour o£
the world ? (t) Unto us a child is born, unto us a fan is
given, and his name f/jall be called Wonderful Counfellor, the
mighty God, the everlafting Father, the Prince of Peace :
as that of his death and vicarious punifhment ? (u) He
was opprejfed, and he was ajjiicled, yet he opened not his
mouth ; he made his foul an offering for Sin, and for the
tranfgrefjion of my people was he Jlricken : and laft'y, as
that of the happy effect which his religion would produce ?
when (x) the wolf fhould dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young
lion, and the failing together, and a little child fhou Id lead
them ; as the evangelical prophet expreiles it in that beauti-
ful allegory.
That the prophets fhould be able to foretel things fo their pre
many ages before they came to pafs ; that he who wentPheciebi
from Judah to denounce God's judgments againft the altar
of Bethel, and againft (_>') Jeroboam, for letting it up, fhould
make mention of the very name of Jollah (who was to be
God's inftrument in executing them) three hundred and fix-
ty one years before the event happened : that (z) Elijah
fhould denounce all the puniihments which God would
bring upon Ahab and his family for their great impie.y,
fome years before the thing came to pais: that Ifaiah
(a) Micah vi. 6. (r) Ezek. xxxiii. ir. (s) Jcr. ix r.
(/) "ifa. ix. 6. [a) Ch. liii. (x) Ch. xi. 6. (j) I Kingsxiii. 2.
(i) Ch. xvii.
E 3 fhculd
xxxvi The APPARATUS,
Should prophefy of Cyrus by name, (a) two hundred and ten
years before the accomplishment of his prophecy ; (b) fore-
tell his rebuilding of the temple, and deScribe his conqueSts,
in fuch full and expreffive terms, that the hiStory of Cyrus
by Xenophon has hardly done it better : and (to mention
but one prophet more) that Daniel mould fpeak of the pro-
fanation of the temple and Sanctuary by Antiochus Epipha-
nes, declare the manner of his death, and delineate the
very temper and countenance of the man, (c) four hun-
dred and eighty years before the accomplishment : this,
and much more that might be mentioned, can be aScribed to
nothing elfe but the inSpiration of God, which made the
fame Strong impreSfion upon the minds of the prophets, and
guided their tongues to the fame words and expreSIions, as
if the things had been actually prefented before their eyes,
their mi- The prophets indeed did not work many miracles, be-
lacks. caufe there was not that occafion for them. The law of
MoSes, which they were Sent to inforce, not invalidate, had
been Sufficiently confirmed by miracles before ; and, as they
were a Standing order of men, which the people were well
accuftomed to, the people were inclinable enough to believe
them, without a divine attestation. However, when they
were employed upcn great and important meffages to per-
fons who either believed not the God of ISrael, or had re-
volted from his fervice, God was never wanting to accom-
pany them with a power of working miracles, to be the
credentials of their commiffion. Thus, vnpon the defection
of the ten tribes, and when calves were fet up in Dan and
Bethel, in opposition to the worlhip at Jerufalem, the
prophet, who was fent to denounce God's anger againSt
Such procedure, was enabled, by a word's fpeaking, (d) to
rend the altar, and both to wither, and rejlore again Jero-
boam's hand. In the famous controverSy between the prieSts
of Baal and Elijah, the prophet was empowered (e) to call
fire down from heaven, which con fumed his facrif.ces, and
gained him the victory over his adversaries ; and, to con-
vince Naaman the Syrian of the true God's being in ISrael,
Eliiha was directed (f) to cure him of his leproSy, by
the Simple preScription of dipping himSelf in the river Jor-
dan. Upon thefe, and the like occasions, when the ho-
nour of God, or the truth of the prophet, Seemed to be
called in question, a power of working miracles was com-
(a) Fid. Jofeph. Antiq. 1. 2. cap. t. (b) Ifa. xliv. 26.
(<;) Jofeph. Antiq. lib. 12. cap. n. (d) 1 Kings, xiii. 4. 5. 6.
\e) Ch. xviii. (/) 2 Kings, v.
municatcd
or Preparatory Discourse. xxxvii
municated to him, as an evident demonftration of God's
abetting his caufe, and attefting the truth -of what he pre-
tended to reveal.
Putting all this together then, viz. that the prophets A recapitu-
were men offobrietv and good education, but void of aUlat,onot'Jlc
craft and diflimulation ; that they expofed themfelves to
infinite hazards and difficulties in the execution of their
office ; that they taught doctrines confonant to the divine
attributes, and made difcoveries of the greateft importance ;
foretold events which none but God could know; and
performed works which none but God could do ; gave all
imaginable evidence of the truth of their commiffion, and
fealed it very often with the teftimony of their own blood :
it will certainly follow, that we have all the reafon we
can delire (all indeed that the nature of the thing will
bear) to believe, that they were mefTengers fent from "God
to fupply the intermediate fpace between JVIofes and Chrift ;
and confequently, that the revelation of God's will in the
Old Teftament (fo far as they are concerned in declaring it)
is indubitably true.
" But, be the character of Mofes and the prophets (as An objec-
U mefTengers fent from God to impart his will to mankind) non-
" never fo well eftablifhed ; yet what is that to us who
" live in times fo diftant and remote from them, and have
" only the tradition of men uninfpired, and the teftimony
*' of a fet of books, (faid indeed to be dictated by the Holy
'* Ghoft, but how truly we cannot tell), for the foundation
" of our faith ? Had we lived indeed in the days of Mofes
" and the prophets, when revelation was attended by figns
f* and mighty wonders, the teftimony of many glorious mi-
" racks, and the completion of many remarkable prophe-
" cies, we fhould have then been inexcuf able, had we re-
" mained incredulous amidft thefe inftances of divine power :
" but fince, in our prefent circumftances, we are reduced to
" the bare letter of the fcriptures, which, for ought we know,
" may be fpurious and corrupt ; or, if genuine, feem to have
" fmall fignatures of a divine fpirit in their composition;
" which, almoft in every paflage, are loaded with abflirdi-
'* ties and contradictions, with myfteries and riddles, and
" obfcure pafTages; and, where they chance to be intelli-
" giblc, are fo trifling in their narrations, io illogical in
" their reafonings, fo confufed in their method, f o inf ^id
" in their ftyle, fo tedious in their repetitions, fo ambiguous
" in their various readings, and, in the whole, fo barren of
" any real entertainment to an ingenious reader, that,
" inftead
xxxviii The APPARATUS,
" inftead of poring in thefe mufty and perplexed records, (and
" which perhaps too may not be fo ancient as is pretended) we
" think it the eaficr and later way to attend to the fentiments
" of our minds, and thofe plain and immutable laws which
" God has written upon the flefhly tables of our hearts."
Theftateof We allow indeed, that there is a great deal of difference
^e^,_e" between thofe who were contemporaries with Mofes and
eontempo- t^ie prophets, and us, who are at fome thoufand years di-
raries with ftance. The completion of a prediction gave fancfion to
the Pr°- the prophet's pretentions, and miracles carried with them
thofe' of a c^ear and prefent conviction ; they entered quick, and
after-ages, gained afTent without any argumentation : whereas our
faith now is founded on human teftimony, and the evi-
dences of our religion comprifed in no very large volume.
But then, we are to conilder, that we give credit to the
contents of other books upon no better grounds ; that
upon this very account we firmly believe, that Alexander,
about two thoufand years ago, conquered a great part of
the world ; and that there was fuch a perfon as Julius
Caefar, who, upwards of feventeen hundred years ago, con-
quered France, and came into England : and yet the au-
thority of the (acred records has been more ftridtly ex-
amined into, and found to be better attefted than that of
any human composition. The contemporaries with infpired
men were convinced by fenfe and ocular demonftration ;
but in this we have the advantage of them, that, having
lived to fee the whole fcheme of revelation compleated, and
at once placed in our view, we can compare one part with
the other, and thence obferve how the myftery of man's
redemption gradually advances ; what harmony there is be-
tween the Old and the New Teftament ; and how the many
prophecies in the one receive their accompiifhment in the
other ; which cannot but give great comfort and fatisfac-
tion to an inquifitive mind.
It is not to be doubted then, but that we, of after-ages, upon
•whom the ends cf the world are come, have fufficient grounds
for our faith to reft upon, if we can but fatisfy ourfelves —
that the perfons by whom God made revelations of his will
at jundry times, and in diver fe manner s , were directed by him
to record them in certain books — — That, in writing thefe
books, they were affifted by the infpiration of his infallible
fpirit — That, according to the beft computations, they were
wrote by the very fame perfons to whom they are afcribed r
That, at a proper period of time, they were com-
piled into one body by fucii as were authorifed and enabled
_^.- fo
or Preparatory Discourse. xxxix
fo to do : 'That from them they have defcended to us
true and genuine, without any conllderable lofs or altera-
tion : That the books now extant, and received by the
Chriftian church, are the very fame which were thus writ-
ten by infpiration, and compiled by authority : And
that they are not liable to the foregoing objections, but de-
ferve a better character, and better ufage, than fome in this
age are pleafed to give them.
(g) It is the opinion of fome learned men, that writing The ob-
was an art coseval with mankind, and the invention of A-Jf*0'? J1""
. • iwcrecl bv
dam himfelf. Jofephus indeed informs us, that it was in fliewjntr
ufe before the flood ; and from thence fome have conjee- that revc-
tured, that the hiftory of the creation, and the reft of thebtl0ns
book of Genefis, were (for the fubftance of them) deliver- cordcd -m
ed down to Mofes in verfe (which was the moft ancient way books,
of writing) and that, from them, he compiled his book.
This however can hardly be a probable conjecture, becaufe
it is fcarce conceivable how men could have loft the fenfe
of religion fo totally as we find they did, had there been any
Handing records of it at that time. The more probable o-
pinion is, that it was the long-experienced infufficiency of
oral tradition (the only way of conveyance then in ufe) that
gave occafion to the general corruption ; while fome for-
got, and others perverted, the doctrines delivered to them
by their anceftors, and, in compliance to their lufts,
brought themfelves, by degrees, firffc to believe a lie, and
then to propagate it, having no written rule of truth to con-
front the error.
It can hardly be doubted, but that God vouchfafed fre-Why God
quent revelations to the patriarchs before the law, and app°inted
fufficiently inftructed them in his will ; nor can we que-
ftion but that thefe holy men ufed their beft endeavours to
propagate the doctrine they received, and to reform the
manners of thofe at leaft who depended on them : And
(what was a great advantage to them in this reipect) both
their lives were fo very long, and the principles of their
religion fo extremely few, that two perfons might have
conveyed them down from Adam to Abraham. For Me-
thufalah lived above three hundred years, while Adam was
yet alive : Sem was almoft an hundred when Methufalah
died ; and when Sem died, Abraham was above an hun-
dred, according to the Hebrew computation. Here is a
great period of time filled up by two or three perfons ; and
(g) Jenkins's Reafonablenefs> and Stillingfket's Orig. Sacr.
yet,
xl The APPARATUS,
yet, in this time, the tradition of thofe few things where-
in religion was then comprehended, was fo totally corrupt-
ed, that idolatry was generally practifed, and God was
obliged to make a new and immediate revelation to the pa-
triarch Abraham.
(h) The promulgation of the law on mount Sinai,
was one of the moft amazing things that ever happened :
and, as the circumftances of the whole folemnity were
very furprifing, the commandments then delivei-ed but
few, the people all of one language, feparate from the reft
of mankind, and obliged to a conftant commerce among
themfelves ; fo there feems to be in this cafe all imagi-
nable advantages in favour of tradition : and yet, not-
withftanding thefe, God would not truft his precepts to this
uncertain way of conveyance, but (/) himfelf, with his
own finger, twice wrote them upon two tables of (lone.
The historical tranfactions of the Jews, the many ftrange
deliverances Heaven vouchfafed them, and particularly
their iignal victory over the Amalekites, God command-
ed Moles not to relate to pofterity by word of mouth
only, but to write them for a memorial in a book (k) :
nay, the very ceremonial part of the law, though not intend-
ed to be of perpetual obligation, was not referred to this
traditionary method, but, according to divine appoint-
ment, committed to writing, and repolited with the priefts :
and therefore we have lefs reafon to wonder, that, in
things which were to come to pafs in future ages, (luch
its the predictions of the prophets were), and whereon the
fate of nations, as well as divine veracity, did depend,
we always find God giving injunctions of this kind,' (/) to
write their infpirations before the people in a table, and to
vote them in a book, that they might be for thi time, to come,
for ever and ever.
That thefe That the books which were fucceflively wrote in this
books were manner, were wrote by the order and afliftance of God's
divlne^r/ hlefled Spirit, no one can doubt, who either attends to the
jpiration. high fentiments which the Jews of old entertained of them,
or to the teftimony whereby both Chrift and his apoftles
have given a full fanction to them. The law of Mofes
was to the Jews accounted the law of God himfelf, and
the Pentateuch elteemed the foundation of their reli-
gion. The familiar converfe he had with God, the won-
(h) Burnet on the Articles. (/) ExoJ. xxxi. 18. (k) Chap.
xyii. 14. (/) Ik. xxx. 8.
ders
or Preparatory Discourse. xli
ders and miracles that he wrought, and the divine wif-
dom and gift of prophecy which refided in him, put it
beyond all difpute, that the books which he left behind
him were penned by the infpiration of the Spirit of God,
whereof he was full. The other canonical books which,
in procefs of time, were collected into a body, the Jews
always held in the like veneration ; infomuch, that (as Jo-
fephus tells us) they were accuftomed from their infancy
to call them the dotlrines of God, and were ready, at any
time, to lay down their lives in vindication of them :
nor is it any bad argument to us Chriftians, that we find
our bleiTed Lord quoting thefe books under the title of
The Scriptures, and acquainting us with the common diftri-
bution of them, in his days, into the law, the prophets,
and the pfalms ; becaufe the book of pfalms was placed in
the front of that collection, which was ufually ftyled the
Hagiographa. It is upon the evidence of thefe books that
he proves hirnfelf to be the Meffias ; it is by them that
he confutes the Jews ; and to them that he appeals both,
in the proof of his own doctrine, and in all his difputations
with them : and therefore we need not wonder that we
find both the apoflle of the Gentiles afTuring us, that (m) ,
all fcripture is given by the infpiration of God, and the apoftle
of the Jews aiTerting the fame thing, viz. that (n) no pro-
phecy of the fcripture is of private interpretation ,• for the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy
men of God fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghofl.
Upon the whole therefore we muft conclude, (o) either that
Mofes and the other writers of the Old Teflament were
infpired, or that they were confummate cheats ; and that
not only Chrift and his apoftles by remitting us to them,
and citing their writings as divine, did connive at the cheat,
but that God hirnfelf likewife, by giving them the power
of miracles and prophecy, did countenance the impofture ;
and by inverting them with the characters of his authority,
and all outward marks of his approbation, inevitably lead
us into error ; which is moft impious to think, and moft
blafphemous to fay.
Confidering then that the divine intention in having and for
the fcriptures wrote, was to make them the ftandard of "hat rea~
faith and rule of life in all future ages of the church,
there was a flrong reafdn why God fhould take care that
(?;;) 2 Tim. iiu 16. («) 2 Pet. i. 20. 21. («) Vid, Calmct's
Differ, vol. I.
Vol. I. F the
xlii The APPARATUS,
the books which he defigned to be the fole guide of man-
kind in matters of religion, and which he forefaw all po-
fterity would appeal to as the great touchftone of truth,
fhould not be liable to any errors ; but that his Holy Spirit
fhould fo guide the hand of his penmen, (as it were), and af-
fift them in their compofitions with fuch an infallible ve-
racity, as might be of fufficient authority to filence all dif-
ferences whenever they fhould arife. And accordingly we
may obferve, that, in all ages, both Jews and Chriftians
have appealed to thefe books as to oracles, in order to de-
cide all controverfies in religion ; that, in every general
council, the Holy Bible was always placed on high as the
directory and unerring compafs whereby to fleer in their
debates ; and that, at the opening of fuch afTemblies, each
member was wont to declare himfeif much in the fame
fenfe with (p) the article of* our church; " That the
" Holy Scripture containeth all things necefTary to falva-
-' tion; fo that whatfoever is not read therein, nor may
•' be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man
" that it fhould be believed as an article of the faith, or be
" thought requifite or necefTary to falvation."
How far in- It is needlefs, and almoft impoffible for us to define pre-
cilely how far the Spirit of God was engaged in the com-
pofition of the Holy Scriptures. It feems more confonant
however to the manner of the divine operations, which do
not ufually put any force upon human nature, but leave
it in a great meafure to the exercife of its faculties, to
fuppofe, that the authors of them were fomething more
than mere amanuenfes to the Holy Ghoft. The great
diverfity" of ftyle and diction which may be obferved in
feveral books, and fometimes the expreffing one and the
fame thing in different terms by different authors, is al-
moft a fure indication, that they themfelves had fome fhare
in the compofition, and that the Holy Ghoft was not the
fole author of every word and exprefHon : for if this had
been the cafe, the ftyle of each book had been alike and
uniform ; at leaft there had not been that apparent differ-
ence in it which we now fee, and which (taking in the
holy penmen for a fhare in the compofition) may not un-
fitly be afcribed to natural caufes. If the Holy Ghoft had
dictated every word, I fay, why fhould Ifaiali, who was
bred in a court, be more florid and magnificent in his ex-
preffion than Amos, who had his education among the
herds ? It is a more eafy fuppofition therefore of die two,
(/>) Article VI.
< that
or Preparatory Discourse. xliii
that God fhould fuggeft the matter of his revelation firft to
their minds, and then leave them to weigh it in their
thoughts, (as they did other truths), and lb put it into fuch
a form of words, as their own minds, or the tenor of their
education, naturally inclined to.
The writings of the holy penmen are of different
kinds : fome of them ai-e hiftorical, fome preceptive,
fome argumentative, fome doctrinal, fome poetical, and
fome prophetical ; in all which the meafiire of the divine
affiftance feemed to vary in proportion to the nature of
the fubject whereof they treated. If they wrote hifto-
rically of matters of fact, which either they themfelves
knew, or had received from credible witneffes, there was
no reafon that the fubftance of their hiftory fhould be re-
vealed again : all that feems requifite is, that the Holy
Ghoft fhould fo far infpect them, as to prevent any error
in the relation. Jf they delivered any moral precepts, or
argued from any revealed truths, he then allowed them to
-employ their reafoning faculties as far as their arguments
were fuitable and iblid ; and at the fame time cleared their
underftanding, and hindered them from writing any thing
impertinent. If then- compofitions were of the poetic kind,
he left them to follow the eftablilhed rules of that art, and
to fcan out the metre by themfelves ; and all that he did,
in this cafe, was to quicken their invention, and refine their
fancy : But if they were to indite things of an higher
nature, and fuch as were above their faculties ; if they
were either to predict fome remarkable event, or declare
fome divine truth that was never revealed before ; it
feems reafonable to believe, that the whole of thefe was im-
mediately infpired into their minds by the Holy Ghoft ; be-
caufe they could be the remit neither of their underftand-
ing nor memory ; and confequently could come into their
minds no other way but by immediate infpirationr
From the whole, then, it is reafonable to think, that the
meafures of divine inipiration varied according to the na-
ture of the fubject, or the exigences of the penmen who
recorded it : that, in the main, they purfued their own
method and manner of exprcffion ; but on fome import-
ant occafions had the words dictated to them : that in
fome fubjects they had their memory refrefhed ; in others,
their underftanding enlightened ; in others, their fancies
elevated ; in all, their wills directed to the difcovery and
declaration of the truth : and even in the leaft matter
xhey wrote, were never fo far left to their own diicretion,
F 2 as
xliv The APPARATUS,
as not to have the Holy Spirit presiding over them, and
keeping them from expreiling any thing contrary to the
divine mind, or the dignity of the facred fubject.
b? oT-'r N°W the books oi: the °ld Teftament> which, by the
and audio-' divine will and infpiration, were in this manner written,
rity of the were by the Jews of old ufually divided into three feveral
books. claffes, whereof the firft comprehended the five books of
Mofes ; the fecond, all the prophets ; and the third, thofe
writings which they called Chetubim, the Greeks Hagiogra-
fha ; or books that were written by holy men, but not with
fuch fullnefs of fpirit as to be ranked among the prophets.
In this divifion they reckoned five books in the firft clafs ;
eight in the fecond ; and nine in the third ; in all two and
twenty ; according to the number of the letters of their al-
phabet, and as fully comprehending all that was neceffary
to be known and believed, as the number of their letters
did all that was requiiite to be faid or written ; for in this
method it is that they range them.
rGenefis.
The books of Mofes. J f xod"s-
1 Leviticus.
Numbers.
L Deuteronomy.
Four books of the f j^ and ( kuth.
former^prophets. V^*^ I>anT(r)2.
(.Kings i. and (r) 2.
°T -. - I Teremiah, and his (s) Lamentations,
later prophets. <j kekiel.
L (/) The books of the 1 2 leffer prophets.
"King David's Pfalms.
King Solomon's Proverbs.
His Ecclefiaftes.
His Song of Songs,
hoi v writers. <( The book of Job.
' IX. The book of Daniel.
The book of Ezra, and (?/) Nehemiah.
The book of Either.
The book of (x) Chronicles 1. and 2.
(q) Which was put as an appendix to the Judges, (r) Counted
ihem but one book, (j) Counted but one book- (/) Which were
all put in one. («) The Jews reckoned them both together for one.
(x) And thefe two went with them for one book.
Which
v 1
And the reft of the
or Preparatory Discourse. xlv
Which two books of Chronicles, containing the fum
of all their former hiftories, and reaching from the crea-
tion of the world to the Jews return from Babylon, are a
perfect epitome of the Old Teftament ; and therefore not
improperly placed, as if they concluded and clofed up their
whole Bible.
The book of Cenefis, which is an introduction to the reftGeneils.
of the Pentateuch, (and contains the hiftory of about 2369
years, from the beginning of the world to the death of the
patriarch Jofeph) is fo called, becaufe it treats of the crea-
tion of the world, the beginning and generation of man,
and all other creatures (y).
That of Exodus, which relates the tyranny of Pharaoh, Exodus.
and the bondage of the Ifraelites under him (and contains
an hiftory of near 145 years) is fo called, becaufe it com-
prehends the hiftory of the departure of the Ifraelites out of
Egypt, under the conduct of Mofes (z).
That of Leviticus, (which contains about one month's Leviticus:
time) has its name, becaufe it gives an account of the
Jewifh fervice and worfhip, of the offices of the Levites,
and the whole Levitical order (a).
That of Numbers, (which contains the hiftory of fome- Numbers.
what more than 38 years), and relates feveral remarkable
incidents in the Ifraelites paftage through the wildernefs, has
its denomination from Mofes's numbering the tribes of
the people (b), according to God's order and appoint-
ment (c).
That of Deuteronomy, which fignifies a fecond law, Deuterono-
(and takes up about the fpace of fix weeks) is afummary111^
* repetition of the laws, both moral, civil, and cere-
monial,
(y) The Hebrews call it Berefth, inprinciplo, m the begin'
n'tngj becaufe in their language it begins with that word.
(2) The Hebrews call it veele Schetnoth, becaufe it begins with
thefe words, now thefe are the names, &c. (a) The Jews
term it Vaicra, becaufe in Hebrew it begins with this word,
which lignifies, and he called, (b) For now that they were paf-
fing through the wildernefs, wherein they were in danger of
meeting with many enemies, it was highly convenient to take
an account of their forces, and to put themfelves in a poflure
of defence; Lewis, Antiq Hcb. 1. 8. (c) The Jews term k
Vacdabbtry and he /pake, becaufe in Hebrew it begins with thofe
words.
* This feems to be of abfolute ufe, becaufe the Ifraelites,
who had heard them before, died in the wildernefs; and as there
was
xlvi The APPARATUS,
monial, which Mofes had given the Ifraelites in the for-
mer books ; together with feveral kind admonitions and
earneft exhortations to better obedience for the time to
come, from the confideration of the many divine favours
already received, and the promifes that were in rever-
sion (d).
This is the fcope of the Pentateuch, or five books of
Mofes : and that he, and none but he, was the writer of
them, we have all the aflurance that innumerable paffages,
in the Holy Scriptures, the joint authority of Chrift and his
apoftles, the univerfal confent of all ages, and (e) the con-
curring teftimony of the moft ancient Heathen authors, can
give us. Only it muft be obferved, that fome part of the
lafl chapter of Deuteronomy, wherein mention is made of
the death of Moles, mult have been added by fome other
writer, either by Jofhua, his immediate fucceflbr, or (as
others would have it) by Ezra, the great reftorer of the
Jewifh canon.
jofhua. The book of Jrflma (which contains the hiftory of 1 7
years) is fo called, not fo much upon the account of its
author, as of its fubject-matter ; fince it contains the hi-
ftory of the wars, and other affairs which happened un-
der die adminiftration of that great captain : but iince the
author of the book of Ecclefiafticus gives him this character,
(/) that he was the fuccejjbr of Mofes in prophecies, i. e. the
next infpired writer of fcripture after Mofes, we have no
reafon to oppofe the judgment of the Jewifh church, which
(§) generally afcribed it to him.
rudecs r^^ie book of Judges, which relates the ftate of the
Jewifh people in the land of Canaan, in the time of the
was now another generation of men fprung up, it was highly
requifire to have thefe laws promulged afrdh, which Mofes does
in this book, and here and there interfperfes both explications
and additions ; Lewis, ibid. (d) The Jews call it Elk
haddeburim, hac funt verba, thefe are the words, becanfe the
Hebrew text begins in this manner. (e) Vid. Grot, de Verir.
lib 1. feci 16. Du Pin's Canon, vol. 1. and Le Clerk's Pro-
legom. De fcriptore Pentateuchi. (f) Ecclef. xlvi. 1.
(S) The Talmudifts indeed make him the author of the book ;
but fome of the ancients, and many modern writers, deny it : and
accordingly we find Theodoret affirming, that this volume was
collected a long time after Jofhua's death ; and that it was no
more than an abftracl of an ancient commentary, called The book
ofjuji men, whereof we find mention made in the tenth chapter
of the faid book of Jofhua ; Lewis's Antiq. Hebr. lib. 8.
judges,
or Preparatory Discourse. xlvii
judges, from Jofhua's death until Eli, (i. e. about 300
years) is very ancient, as appears from a paflage in a pfalrn
of David, (h) When thou wenteft forth before the people,
when thou marchedjl through the wildernefs, the earth fhook,
the heavens alfo dropped at the pre fence of God; which words
are an exact imitation of thefe in (;') Judges ; Lord, when
thou wenteji out of Sen, when thou marchedjl out of the field of
Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens dropped, the clouds al-
fo dropped water : and, that it was wrote by Samuel, as well
as the book of Ruth, (which is an appendix to it), the doc-
tors of the Talmud agree, though others attribute it to He-
zekiah, and many to Ezra.
The two books of Samuel, which are public hiftories of The books
the tranfactions under the two laft judges, Samuel and Eli,of Samue ■
and under the two firft kings, Saul and David, (com-
priling the compais of 100 years), have likewife evident
marks of their antiquity : and, though it be not abfolutely
certain who their author was, yet the generality of the
Jews do, with great probability, aflert, that the four and
twenty firft chapters were written by Sairmel himfelf, and,
the reft by the prophets Nathan and Gad ; which alTertion
they found on this paflage in the Chronicles, (k) Now the
atls of David the King, firft and laft, behold they are written
in the book of Samuel the feer, and in the book of Nathan the
prophet, and in the book of Gad the feer.
The books of Kings (I), and the Chronicles, (for I take Kings, aft d
them in the order wherein they now ftand in oiir Bibles), Chronicles,
which, taking in fome part of the foregoing books, con-
tain the hiftory of the Jewifh monarchy down to the cap-
tivity of Babylon, (a fpace of above 500 years), were com-
piled out of ancient records, which records were wrote by
men of a prophetic fpirit ; and all that Ezra (or whoever
their compiler was) added of his own, was only fome ge-
nealogical obfervations at the beginning of the Chronicles,
and fome other palfages of fmall moment, relating to the
times after the captivity.
(h) Pfal lxviii 7. 8. (/) Judges v. 4. (k) t Chron.
xxix. 29. (/) Thrush it be a matter of great uncertainty,
whether the hook of the Kings or of the Chronicles were firft
wrirten, yet it is evident, that this of the Chronicles is more
full and comprehenfive than that of the Kin^s: and from thence
thefr bonks ure call d Paralipomena, Remains, Supplements, and
Additions, by the Greek interpeters ; becaufethey contain fome
palfages or circumfhnces diat were omitted in the other hiftorieaj
writers; Lewis, ibid.
The
xlviii The APPARATUS,
Ezra. The book of Ezra, which is a continuation of the
Chronicles, and comprifes the hiftory of the Jews from
the time that Cyrus made the decree for their return, un-
til the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, (which was
about ioo years), was all compofed by him, except the fix
nrft chapters, which contain an account of the firft re-
turn of the Jews upon the decree of Cyrus ; whereas
Ezra did not return until the time of Artaxerxes. It is
of his fecond return therefore that he writes the account,
and, adding it to the other, (which he found ready compofed
to his hand), he made it a complete hiftory of the Jewiih
restoration.
Nehemiah. Nehemiah, who was the fon of Hilkiah, of the tribe
of Levi, was advanced in Babylon to be cup-bearer or
page to King Artaxerxes ; and from him he obtained
leave to return to Judea for 1 2 years, in order to rebuild
the city of Jerufalem. He continues the hiftory of Ezra
from the 20th year of Artaxerxes to the reign of Darius
Nothus, (about 40 years in all), and is, (m) by the writer
of the book of Maccabees, attefted to be the author of that
work.
Efther. The hiftory of EJlher, a Jewifh captive virgin, who, for
her tranfcendent beauty, was advanced to the throne of Per-
fia, and, by her intereft with her royal hufband (?i) Ahame-
rus, (who fome will have to be the fame with the above-
mentioned Artaxerxes, and others with Darius Hyftafpes),
procured to her countrymen a wonderful deliverance from
Hainan's intended maflacre, by fome is fuppofed to have
been written by Ezra, and by others by Mordecai. But the
more probable opinion of the Talmudifts is', that the great
fynagogue (to perpetuate the memory of that remarkable
event, and to account for the original of the feaft of Purim)
ordered this book to be compofed, and afterwards approved,
and admitted into the facred canon.
j0|j - Who the author of the book of Job was, is indeed uncer-
tain : It is very probable however, that he was a perfon of
great antiquity, and one who lived before the promulga-
tion of the Jewifh law ; becaufe there are no traces of that
to be found in the whole compafs of the book : and
therefore the moft general opinion is, that it was written
by Mofes, during his abode in Egypt, or in his flight into
the land of Midian, with an intent te encourage the Jews
(m) 2 Mac. ii. 13. («) Vid. Prideaux\ Connect, parti,
book 4.
under
or Preparatory Discourse. xlix
under the feverities of the Egyptian bondage. Though
ibme will rather have it, that the materials or" this book
were drawn up firft by Job himfelf, or fome of his friends,
the interlocutors ; and afterwards coming into the hands of
Mofes, and thence into the poileffion of Solomon, were by
him turned f into Hebrew verfe, ?n the manner we now
find them,
Some of the ancient fathers were of opinion, that the rfalms.
whole book of Pfalms was written by David only ; but in
this they muft be miftaken ; becaufe the titles of feveral
pfalms tell us, that they were compbfed by Mofes. The
Hebrew doctors do generally agree, that the 02d pfalm
was made by Adam. Solomon, no doubt, was the author
of the 49th pfalm, which is much of the fame ftrain with
his other nuptial fong which is called the Canticles ; and
it is no improbable conjecture, that the 88th and 89th
pfalms were indited in the time of the Egyptian bondage ;
the former condoling the people's diftrefs, and the latter
prophefying their deliverance. However this be, it is cer-
tain, that David (who had an excellent gift of poetry and
pfalmody) was the compofer of much the greater part of
them ; and therefore his name was thought proper to give
title to the whole collection, which was undoubtedly made
by Ezra.
That the book of Proverbs, Ecclefmfies, and Cant]- ™£ p* ®-
cles, were written by King Solomon is the general opi-
nion of the Jewifh doctors, who pretend to tell vis, that
he wrote the Canticles in his youth, his Proverbs in his
manhood, and his Ecclcfiajles at the latter end of his
life. There are, however, but 25 chapters in the begin-
ning of the firft, which are reputed the original collec-
■f St Jerome, in his preface to the book of Job, informs
us, that, for the moft part, it is in heroic verfe ; that, from the
beginning of the book to the third chapter, it is profe ;• but, from
the words, Let the day perijh wherein I was born, chap. iii. 3. to
ihefe, Where fire I abhor myfelf, and repent in dvjl and ajhesf
chap. xiii. 6. all is hexameter verfe, confiding or daclyls and
fpondees, like the Greek verfes of Homer, or the Latin of Vir-
gil. And Marianus Victorius, in his note upon this paifage of
St Jerome, tells us, that he has examined this book of Job, and
finds St Jerome's obfetvations to be true ; Shuckford's Connection,
vol. 2. chap. 9.
Vol.1, O lio:»
Canticles;
fr
The APPARATUS,
tion of Solomon, the reft were compiled by other hands j
only the laic chapter (which bears the name of Lemuel) is
fuppofed to have been written by him under a borrowed
name, and feems to be made np ox fome wife inftruclions
which his mother Bathiheba had taught him when he was
a child.
'The Song of Songs, (as it is called), though it may relate
to Solomon's marriage with the daughter of the King of E-
gypt, and is fo far hiftorical ; yet the pious, in all ages, have
ever efteerned it an allegorical dialogue between Chriit and
Ecdeiia- his church. And, though fome pailages in Ecclefajies feem
to exprefs an Epicurean notion of providence : yet it is to be
remembered, that the author (in an academic way) difputes
indeed on both fides, but, in the conclufion, determines for
that which is right, viz. (o) To fear Cod and keep his com-
mandments, which is the whole duty of man ; for God, fays he,
Will bring every work to judgment, and every fecrct thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
The Pro- That the books both ©r the greater and leffer Prophets
(for we have no need to coniider them feparately) have
been always thought to belong to the perfons whofe names
and inferiptions they bear, we have the univerfal confent of
the Jewilh church, feveral plain paffages from Jofephus,
and a very remarkable teftimony in the book of Eccleiiafti-
cus to convince us, where, after many praifes beftowed up-
on Ezekiel, and other prophets and worthies of Ifrael, there
are thefe words : (/>) And, of the twelve prophets let the
memorial be blcjjed ; let their bones fburijjp again out of their
place ; for they comforted Jacob, and delivered them by a cer-
tain hope.
The canon Thus it appears, that the books of the Old Teftament
of the Oidwere either the work of the men whofe names they bear ; or
compiled at *ei"ft the comppfiyons of perfons aflifted by the Holy
bv Ezra. Ghoft : and how they came to be collected into a body ; and,
by perfonswho were duly qualified for the work, reviled,
and publifhcd in one volume, in the manner we now have
them, is the next point of inquiry we are to puriue.
It muft be acknowledged indeed that we cannot give an
exa<£t accpunt of the fettlement of the canon of the Old Te-
i lament, becaiile we have no authors extant who profefied-
ly treat of this affair ; but, if we may believe the concurring
teftimony of ancient writers, both Jewifh and Chriltinn,
(who might probably have their opinions from lome au-
!5- r4* (/) Ecclef, iv. 10.
thorities
or Preparatory Discourse. li
thorities that are now loft), we muft allow, that Ezra, up-
on his return from the captivity of Babylon, undertook the
work; and, after he had finifhed it, had i ■ . d by the
gr and Sanhedrim, and publiihed by authority. Only we
muft obferve, (g) that the two books of Chronicles, and thole
of Nehemiah, Efther, and Malachi, were very probably af-
terwards added by Simon the Juft ; and that it was not till
his time that the jewiih canon of the Holy Scriptures was
fully completed.
That this canon began to be compiled foon after the re-
turn from the captivity, is pretty plain from the above-cited
pallage in Ecclefiairicus, which makes mention of the twelve
minor prophets, and is an argument that they wei'e then col-
lected, and digeiled into one volume : and if we believe (r)
that the LXX interpreters translated all the Old Tefl;amentj
(which is an opinion that many learned men do maintain),
then it is evident, that the canon muft have been fettled be-
fore the time that their verfion was made, which was done
under Ptolomy Philadelphus, and not improbably at the
beginning of his reign. The truth is, both the Jewiih hi-
ftory ends, and the fpirit oi' prophecy ceafed, much about
this time : Nehemiah was the laft hiftorian, and Malachi
the laft prophet, both contemporaries with Ezra, and both •
aflifting to him in publishing this new edition of the Scrip-
tures ; and therefore, it is reafonable to fuppofe, after the
race of fuch writers were extinct, and all vijion and prophecy
fealed up among the Jews, that this was a proper period for
collecting the feveral copies, and adjufling the catalogue of
their facred books.
But Ezra did more than this : (s) He not only collected "\Vhat he
all the books whereof the Holy Scriptures did coniift, and&dtomake
difpofed them in their proper order, btit, by comparing the y„s ,:.L\!L.1011
feveral copies together, he corrected all the errors which
had crept into them through the negligence or miftakes cjf
tranferibers. He changed the old names of feveral places
that were grown obfolete, and, inftead of them, ini'erted
fuch new dnes as the people were better acquainted with.
He filled up the chafms of hiftory, and added, in feveral
places, throughout the books of this edition, what appeared
to him to be neceftary for the illuftratidn, connection, ar,d
completion otr the whole. And, L;".iy, he wrote every
(q) «A"i<L rriileaux's Connection, part r. 1. $. (r) Vid\
Walton's Prolog 9. in Bib. Polyg. (;) Vid. Prideaux's Con-
nection; prt 1. lib. 5,
G 2 book
Hi The APPARATUS,
book in the Chaldee chara&er, which fince the time of the?
captivity, the people underftood much better than the old
Hebrew. But whether, upon this review, he added the
vowel points, as they now are in our Hebrew Bibles, is a
queftion a little too prolix and intricate for us to engage in
at prefent. Thofe who have a mind to have their curiofity
in this refpecT: latisfied, may fee the arguments on both fides
fairly ffcated in the learned (t) Connection, we have had fo
frequent occafion to quote.
What we have to obferve farther is, that, in the feve-
ral corrections, additions, and alterations, which Ezra
made, he did not proceed according to his own humour and
caprice, but was directed by the lame Spirit which at firft
^Hilled the writers of thefe facred volumes. For befides
that himfelf was a (it) prophet, or (as he is ftyled) (x)
a ready fcribc in the law of Mofes, we can hardly fup-
pofe, but that in an affair of fuch confequence, he
would not only ufe the bell fkill he had himfelf, but con-
fult likewife with Haggai, Zechary, and Malachi, (the laft
of whom muft needs have been alive in his time, and pof-
fibly the other two), and do nothing without their advice %
becaufe, in matters of much lefs moment (viz. where fome
who pretended to the priefthood could not prove their pe-
digree) we find him fo very cautious, that he would deter-
mine nothing himfelf, but left the matter undecided, until
a prieji JJjould arife who (y) had Urim and Thummim,
whereby he might confult the divine will upon all occa-
sions.
&n\ that Thus was the canon of the Old Teftament fettled, in
th- fame or about the times of Ezra : and, that it continued in
"UI™be!' of the fame manner or order until the publication of the
defended g°fpe^ (befides the authority of feveral Chriftian wri-
tous. ters), we have this remarkable teftimony from (z) Jofe-
phus. " We have only two and twenty books," fays her
" which comprehend the hiftory of all ages, and merit
" our belief : five belong to Moles, which cqntain what
1/ relates to the origin of man, and the tradition of the
(/) Part i. lib. 5. p. 497. (u) The Jews look upon Ez-
ra as another Mods ; they call him the fecond founder of the law,
and hold his perfon in lb great efleem and veneration, that it is a
common faying among their writers, If the law had not been gi-
ven by Mofts, Ezra was worthy to have been the publilher of it ;
Lewis, anliq. Heb. lib. 8. (x) Ezra vii. 6. (y) Chap.
">i. 62. 63. (z) Centra Apion*
** feveral
or Preparatory Discourse. liii
" feveral fucceffions and generations, down to his death,
«« From the death of Moles to the reign of Artaxerxes,
" (who was king of Periia after Xerxes), the prophets
*' who fucceeded him have, in their books, written what
" happened in their time. The other books contain hymns
" to the praife of God, and precepts for the conduct of
" human life. What happened fince the time of Arta-
" xerxes down to our days, has likewife been recorded by
" the writers thereof; but they have not met with the like
" credit, becaufe there has not been any certain fuccefiion
*' of prophets during that time. And from hence, fays he,
" it is manifeft, what refpecl and eftimation has been paid
" to the books which complete our canon; fince, in fo long
" a tracl: of time, no man has ventured either to add any
" thing to them, or diminim or alter any thing in them ;
" fince the Jews from their infancy are accuftomed to call
" them divine injiitntions, to believe them ftedfaftly, and,
" upon occafion, to lay down their lives in defence of
" them."
That the fame number of authentic books has been Apocryphal
tranfmitted to us, we may plainly perceive, if we will but books re-
turn to the feveral catalogues which the fathers, in their Jei" e '
writings, have left us of them, which the council of Lao-
dicea enumerates, and fundry general councils afterwards
confirm. And though, in procefs of time, feveral apo-
ciyphai books (as containing matters of Jewifh hiftory,
and many moral precepts) were, by degrees, admitted into
the fervice of the church, and publicly read for the in-
ftru£tion of the people ; yet it would be no hard matter to
ihew, that fomeof the beft and moft learned writers of their
times always denied their canonical authority. " The church
" indeed allowed them to be read, (as St Jerome tells us) ; but
" fhe did not receive them into the canon of fcripture :"
and in like manner our church declares concerning them,
ihat fhe " doth read them for example of life, and inftruc'
" tion of manners; but does not apply them to eftablifh any
" dodtrine." So that, though fome of thefe be confefledly
fpurious, and accordingly have been rejected by the wifdom
of the church ; yet this can be made no argument againft
fuch as have been univerlally received, and handed down
by unanimous, conftant tradition.
" But thouirh we have been careful to receive no An 0bjec-
" more books than what are ftrictly canonical, yethowtlGn-
" fhall we llitisfy ourfelves that we have received them ail ?
" In feveral parts of fcripture we find books referred to,
" fuch
liv The APPARATUS,
" fuch as the book of the covenant, the book of the u<afs of
" the Lord, the book of Ajher, the book oftheaus of Solomon,
" &c. none of which are now extant ; and therefore,
" as we fuppofe them loft, we cannot bnt infer that our
" prefent canon of fcripture is very lame and imperfect."
Anf.-vered, What has given credit to this objection is the common
by iiie\vmgnol:jon ^t tjie ^Q0^-s here fUppofed to be loft were
of the ca- vo^umes °^ fome iize, and all indited by the Spirit of
nonical God; whereas we may obferve, lit, That the word Sepher,
books are which we render book, figniiies properly a bare rchearfal of
any thing, or any kind of writing, be it ever lb fmall ;
and that the cuftom of the Jews was to call every little
memorandum by that name : for what we tranilate a bill
of divorcement, is, (a) in the original, a book of divorce-
ment ; and the fiiort account of our Saviour's genealogy is
(b) the book of the generation of Jefus Chrijl. 2dly, That
feveral of thefe tracts, which are not now extant, were
written, not by peribns pretending to any fupernatural af-
iiftance, but by luch (c) as were ftyled recorders, or writers
cf chronicles, (as it is in the margin), an office of great ho-
nour and truft, but of a different kind from that of prophets-.
3dly, That iuppofing they were indited by fuch as were pro-
perly prophets, yet they were not written by divine inspira-
tion; " for prophets (as (d) St. Auftin obferves) did not at
" times write under the guidance and direction of the Holy
" Ghoft. In the fundamentals of religion, indeed, they were
" divinely affifted ; but in other matters they only wrote as
" faithful hiftorians." And, 4thly,Thatmoft of thefe pieces
(e) are ftill remaining in the fcriptures, though they go un-
der other appellations ; and that fuch as are net to be found
there, were never defigned for religious inftruclion, nor
are they eflential to man's falvation. And now to apply
thefe obfervations to the books we imagine to be loft.
The book of the covenant, which is mentioned in Exod.
,xxiv. 7. and thought to be milung, is not any diftinct book
_ from the body of the Jewifh laws. For whoever im-
partially examines that paffage in Exodus, will find, that
the book referred to is nothing elfe but a collection of fuch
injunctions and exhortations as are exprelsly laid down in
the four preceding chapters.
(a) Deut. xxiv. r. (l>) Mat. i 1. (c) 2 Sam.
viii. 16. 2 Kings, xviii. 18. 2 Chron. xxix. 8. (d) De
civit. Dei, lib. 18. cap. 58. (e) Vid. Edward's
Perfection of the Holy Scripture j and Jenkins's Reafbnalknefs of
the ChriiUau Religion, vol. 2.
The
or Preparatory Discourse. Iv
The book of the wars of the Lord, cited in Numb. xx.
14. and fuppofed to be wanting, is (in the opinion (/') of
a very able judge) that very record, which, upon the de-
feat of the A'ualekites, God commanded Moles to make,
as a memorial of it, and to rehearfe it in the ears ofjojhua.
So that it feems to be no more than a fliort account
of that victory, together with fome proper directions
for Jofhua's private ufe and conduct in the manage-
ment of the fubfequent war, but not at ,all dictated by
divine inspiration ; and confecmently no (g) canonical fcrip-
ture.
The book of Jafijer, mentioned in Join. x. 13. is fup-
poied by fome to be the fame with the book of Judges,
becaufe we find mention therein of the fun's Jl a noting fill :
but the conjecture of the Jewifh hiftorian (h) feems to
be better founded, viz. that it was compofed of certain
records, (kept in a fafe place at that time, and afterwards
removed into the temple), which gave an account of what
happened to the Jews from year to year, and particularly
of the funs funding fill ; and (as it is in 2 Sam. i. 18. )
directions for the ufe of the bow, i. e. for fetting up of
archery, and maintaining military exercifes. So that this
was not the work of an infpired perfon, but of fome com-
mon hiltoriographer, who wrote the annals of his own
time, and might therefore deferve the name of Jajh'er,
The LTi right ; becaufe what he wrote was generally deemed
a true and authentic account of all the events and occurren-
ces which then happened.
Once more, the feveral books of Solomon, mentioned
in 1 Kings, iv. 32. 33. were no part of canonical fcrip-
Uire. His three thoufand proverbs were perhaps only
ipoken, not written down. tUsfongs, which were a thou-
Jand and five, and whereof we have but one, were' very
likely his juvenile compoiitions ; and his univcrfal hifiory
• (_/) Dr Lightfoot's Chronology of the times of the Old Tcfla-
ment. (g) Others are of opinion, that the book here
under confideration is no other than the book of Judges, which
may properly enough be called the bock of the wars if the Lord ;
becaufe it recounts the warlike enterprises which thole brave
men, who were ftirred by God in an extraordinary manner,
were fo famous for, (or to exprcfs the remarkablenefs of the
thing), The pan of the Lord may fignify as much as the grcar,
wonderful, and renowned wars fought by the valiant Hebrews;
I'is's Antiq. Heb. lib. 8. " (b) Jofeph'/Amicj lib. 5.
c a, 2.
if
hi The APPARATUS,
of vegetables, and that of animals of all kinds, as pro-
perly belonged to philofophy. It was not necefTary for eve-
ry one to be acquainted with them : and though the lofs of
them (coniidering the matchlefs meafure of wiidom where-
with God had endowed their author) is certainly very great;
yet it is a lofs which none but the bufy fearchers into na-
ture have caufe to bewail : nor have they fo much caufe
either, if the conjectures of fome learned men fhould prove
true, viz. that thefe books of plants and animals were
extant in the days of Alexander the Great ; or that being
perufed and underftood by Ariftotle and Theophraffus, by
the help of an interpreter, they were tranflated into their
writings in the manner we now find them, and, in pro-
cefs of time, gained them great honour and renown. Up-
on the whole therefore we may conclude, that. if any books
feem to be wanting in our prefent catalogue, they are either
fuch as lie fecret and unobferved under other denomina-
tions, or fuch as had never the title of being canonical ; as
contained no points eflential to man's falvation ; and fuch,
confequently, as we may live fafely ignorant of here,
and {hall never be refponfibie for hereafter.
£n objec- " But fuppofe we have the whole number of our books,
tion. a yet we are ft\\\ at a j0fs for j-j^e true fenfe of them ; becaufe,
" fince the time of their firfl recording, they have been fo
" chopped and changed by the management ofthofe who had
" the cuftody of them ; fo foifted with errors, and loaded
" with various readings, that they render the text purely
" precarious, and make every wife man doubtful and fufpici-
" ous, whether any thing of certainty can be gathered from a
" book where the fenfe and phrafeology is fo very uncertain."
Anfwred, We readily grant indeed, that there is a great variety
by fhev.-ing0f different readings occurring in the books of the Old
theo^a'^"Teftament; but, as in a multitude of copies this, is a thing
of various unavoidable, fo is it one of the moll effectual means,
readings, at this diftance of time from all originals, to help
us to the true fenfe and meaning of the text. For, put
the cafe, that we had but one copy of the Bible by us, yet me-
thinks, it would be a defirable thing to have another ;
for (i) another, to join with the firfl, would give us more
authority, as well as fecurity. Now chufe that fecond
where you will, there ihall be numberlefs variations from
the firfl, and yet half or more of the faults ftill remain
in them both. A third therefore, and a fourth, and fo on,
are defirable, that, by a joint and mutual help, all the
faults may be mended : and yet the more copies you call
(/) Phileku. Lipf. Anfwer to a Difcourfe of Free-thinking. •
to
or Preparatory Discourse. lvii
to your afliftance, the more do the various readings mul-
tiply upon you ; becatife every copy has its particular flips,
though in a principal paflage or two it may do lingular lev-
vice. Were the originals indeed ftill in being, they would
fuperfede the ufe of all other copies ; but lince that is im-
poffible from the nature of things, fince time and cald-
mities muff confume all, the fublidiary help muft be from
the various tranferipts conveyed down to us, when com-
pared and examined together : and no one can be ignorant,
how much a collation of this kind tends both to illuftrate
the fenfe of any particular palfage, and to ftrengthen the
authority of the whole.
Coniidering then, that before the ufe of printing, more
manufcripts were made of the Holy Bible than of any
Heathen author whatever ; and that theie manufcripts
have been examined with more care, and collated with
more exadlnefs, and the various readings fst down even to
the molt minute difference ; we are not to wonder if, with
all this fcrupulous fearch and inquiry, the variations are lb
many. The editors of profane authors do not ufe to trou-
ble their readers with an ufelefs lift of every little flip
committed by a lazy or ignorant fcribe. What is thought
commendable in an edition of the fcriptures, and has the
name of fairnefs and fidelity, would be deemed trifling
and impertinent in them : but if the like fcrupulouihcfs
were obferved in regiftring the fmalleft changes in pro-
fane, as is allowed, nay required in facred authors, the
number of their variations would rife at leaft to a full
equality.
We ought to account it therefore a lingular inftance of
God's good providence, coniidering the great antiquity of
many books of tlie fcriptures, beyond that of any other
books in the world ; the multitude of copies that have been
taken in all ages and nations ; the difficulty to avoid mii-
takes in tranferibing books in a language which has fo many
of its letter3, and of its words too, fo like one another ;
the defect of the Hebrew vowels, and the late invention (as
rnoft are now agreed) of the points ; the change of the Sa-
maritan, or ancient Hebrew for the prefen: Hebrew, or
Chaldee character ; the captivity of the whole nation of the
Jews for feventy years ; and the mixtures and changes
which, during that time, were brought into their lan-
guage : coniidering, I fay, that all the accidents which
have ever happened to create .errors and miftakes in any
book, have concurred to occallon them in the Old Teftu-
Vol. I. H ment.
lviii The APPARATUS
ment, we ought to efteem it a particular inftance of God's
providence, that the different readings are fewer, and make
much lefs alteration in the fenfe, than thofe of any book of
the fame bignefs, and of any note, or antiquity, if all the
copies mould be as carefully examined, and every little va-
riation as punctually fet down, as thofe of the Holy Scrip-
tures have been. And much more are we to blefs the di-
vine providence, that whatever differences are to be found
in the feveral copies of the Bible, they do not in the leaft
prejudife the fundamental points of religion, nor weaken
the authority of thefe facred records. For this is the judg-
ment of one (k) who had ftudied the fubject much, and was
fufficiently verfed in fcripture criticifm, viz. " That the
" things relating either to faith or practice, are plainly
" contained in all copies whatever. Difference there is
" indeed in leffer things, as in matters of chronology,
" which depend upon the alteration, or omifRon, or ad-
" dition of a letter ; or in the names of men, or of cities,
" or countries ; but the principal doctrines of religion are
" fo difperfed throughout the fcriptures, that they can re-
" ceive no damage or alteration, unlefs the whole mould
" be changed, or very grofsly corrupted."
And that For befides this providential care, (which we may well
the text fuppofe to go along with the writings of fo divine a charac-
ai^ "^ver ter), we find God making all proper and prudent provifion
corrupted. £°r their prefervation, by inferting a particular and ftrict
prohibition in the law itfelf, (/) That no one fljoidd prefume
. to 'add unto, or dimini/b ought from it ; by enjoining the peo-
ple to make it their conftant ftudy, (m) to bind it, as it
were, for a fign upon their hands, and as frontlets between
their eyes, and to write it upon the gates and pojis of
their houfes ; and by requiring them to read it diligently,
both in private to their families, and after a more folemn
manner in their public congregations. All which could
not but make them competent judges of the law of Mofes,
and enable them to defcry any change or material corrup-
. tion which fhould at any time attempt to infinuate it-
felf.
To fecure the other infpired writings, a continued fuc-
ceilion of prophets was of great fervice : and it feems next
to impoflible for any dangerous alteration to have been
■ made, without detection and cenfure, fo long as that order
of men, whofe office and zeal led them to correct any error
(i) Lud. Cappel. Crit, Sac. lib. 6. cap. 2. (/.) Dcut. iv. 2.
[tn) Chap. vi. 8. 9.
in
or Preparatory Discourse. lix
in faith, as well as corruption in practice, was m bein?.
Nor can we fuppofe it probable, that any perfon would at-
tempt fuch alterations, where the copies were in fo many
hands, and fo openly read and confulted, that there was
fcarce any private perfon who might not have known (if
any fuch thing had happened) when and wherein they had
been corrupted.
Nay, fo far were the Jews from fuffering corruptions to
creep into the Holy Scriptures, that (n) if but one -word
happened to be altered in any copy, it was to be laid allde
as utterly ufelefs ; unlefs it was fometimes given to a very
poor man to read to his family, upon condition, that he
brought it not with him to the fynagogue, nor made any o-
ther ufe of it. The religioits factions among the Jews
were many times very violent ; but we no where find any
party acculing the other of corrupting, or falilfying fcrip-
ture ; nor does our Saviour himfelf, who fo frequently re-
proves the Scribes and Pharifees for their traditions, and
falfe glofTes, ever once charge them with adulterating the
text itfelf ; which he certainly would not have failed to do,
had they been culpable in that refpecl. On the contrary,
both he and the apoftles appeal to it as true and authen-
tic, and borrow their proofs from it, in confirmation of
the Chriftian faith and doctrine. To conclude this ar-
gument then,
That from the time of Ezra, to the coming of our
Saviour Chrift, the Jews did not corrupt the text of the
facred writings, is plain from his not charging diem with
any fuch practice ; which doubtlefs he would have done, (as
well as reprove their falfe comments upon them), had they
been equally guilty of both : and that, fince the beginning
of Chriflianity, neither they, nor any other feci: whatever,
could pofRbly make any falfifications, and either add or
diminifh any thing material, without an immediate detec-
tion, is manifefh from the multitude of true and authentic
copies, which were every where difperfed as far as Chri-
ftianity prevailed, and from that jealous and vigilant eye,
which each party had upon the other : lb that we may rea-
fonably fuppofe, that all the little errors which may be re-
marked in them, proceeded not from any ill defign, but
merely from the ignorance or inattention of their tran-
fcribers. And indeed, (o) coniidering the many ages thro'
which the books have paired, we have much more reafon m
(>/) Vkl. Jenkir.b's Rcaibnablencfs, vol 2. (c) Bifliop Eurnct
on the Articles.
II 2 wonder,
Ix. The APPARATUS,
wonder, that they are brought down to us fo entire, and fo
manifestly genuine, in all their main and fundamental points,
than that we Ihould fee ibme inftances of human frailty in
thole who copied and preferved them.
An abjec- li But be the books ever fo genuine, and their tradi-
tion. « tion ever fo certain, yet we cannot fuppofe them wrote
*' by perfons divinely infpired, fo long as we fee in them
" certain characters inconfiftent with fuch a fuppofition.
" Surely the pureft language, the moft perfect ltyle, the
" greateft clcarnefs, the moft exact method, the foundeft
; r - ..foiling, the moft apparent confiftency, and, in a
' word, all the excellencies of good writing, might be ex-
" peeled in a piece compofed or dictated by the Spirit of
" God ; but books wherein we find the reverfe of all this3
" it is idle, if not impious, to afcribe to the Deity."
Anfwj-cd ^- ®ne great niiitake which the generality of readers
byfuewingrun into, is, to judge of the compofition of the fcripture,
that tranf- ijot from its original, but from its tranflations : for, (p.
d*f»adre£ b-^es tnar- *n ancient writings, -(fuch as the Bible is) there
are alluvions to many rites and cuftoms that are now laid
le ; and, for this reafon, nuaft needs feem flat or imper-
tinent ; which, when they were in ufe, had a great deal of
fpirit and propriety in them ; and befides that the Hebrew,
in particular, is a language of a peculiar caft, both in the
contexture of its words, and the cadence of its periods,
and contains certain expreffions, whofe ernphalis can no
more.be tranflated into another language, than the water
of a diamond can be painted, without detracting from the
original : befides all this, I fay, the tranflators themfelves,
fometimes by running into miftakes, and at all times by
adhering too religloufly to the letter of the text, have con-
tributed not a little to make the ftyle of the facred writings;
appear lefs advantageous. For, whereas other tranflators
have taken a liberty to accommodate the beauties of the
language whereinto they tranflate, to the idiotifms of that
wherein their author wrote ; thefe have thought themfelves.
reftrained from uling fuch freedom in a divine compofition;
and have therefore left feveral Hebraic, and other foreign
phrafes in their verfion, which feem a little uncouth, and
give the reader (who can look no farther) a very odd no-
tion of the original : though it is certainly maiiifeft, that
the moft elegant piece of oratory that ever was framed, if
we render it literally, and not give it the true genius of the
(/>) Vid. Boyle of tfee.fhvle ipf the Scripture; and Nicholl's Con-
language
or Preparatory Discourse. lxi
language whereunto we are admitting it, will lofe all its
beauty, and appear with the fame difadvantage.
II. Another miftake that we run into is, when we That do-
confine eloquence to any nation, and account that the quencc is
only proof of it, which is accommodated to the prefent""1^ '"
tafte. We indeed, in thefe European countries, whofeCOuntry;
languages, in a great meafure, are derived from Greek and
Latin, make them the patterns for our imitation, and ac-
count them the ftandard of perfection : but there is no
reafon why the eaftern nations, whofe languages have no
affinity with them, fhould do the fame ; much lefs is it rea-
ibnable to expect it in writers who lived long before thefe
Greek or Latin authors (we fo much admire) were born.
It is fufficient for them that they wrote according to the
fafhionable, and efteemed eloquence of their own times :
but that the Holy Ghoft fhould infpire them with certain
fch ernes of fpeech, adapted to the modern tafte, and iuch
as were utterly unknown in the countries where they lived,
is a thing that can never enter into any fober man's con-
fideration. The truth is, fince Mofes was bred up in all
the refined learning and wifdom of the Egyptians ; fince So-
lomon was excellent in all kind of knowledge, and in a
manner idolized by the Eaftern world ; and fince Daniel's
promifing youth was improved by the learning of the Chal-
dean fages ; we have all the reafon imaginable to believe,
that they wrote according to the perfection of ftyle, which was
then in ufe ; that though their eloquence differs from ours,
yet it is excellent in its kind ; and that, if we have other
notions of it, it is only becaufe we are unacquainted with
thofe bold allegories, and figurative ways of difcourfe ;
thofe dark fentences, furprifing brevities, and inconnected
tranfitions, wherein the nature of their true iublime did
confift.
III. Another miftake we run into is, when we flip- nor necef-
pofe that the critical rules of eloquence are any ways ne-^'T madl"
cefTary in divine compofitions. The defign of God, i" polition.
recording his laws, was to inform our underitandings, to
cure our paflions, and rectify our wills ; and if this end
be but attained, it is no great matter in what form of dic-
tion the' prefcription be given. We never expect that a
phyfician's receipt fhould be wrote in a Ciceronian ftyle :
and if a lawyer has made us a firm conveyance of an eftate,
Ave never inquire what elegancies there are in the writing.
When therefore, God intends to do for us for greater
things than thefe ; when he is delivering the terms of our
falvation,
Ixii The APPARATUS,
falvation, and prefcribing the rules of our duty; why
fhould we expert that he fhould infift on the niceties of
ftyle and expreffion, and not rather account it a diminu-
tion of his authority, to be elaborate in trifles, when he has
the momentous iflues of another life to command our at-
tention, and affect our paffions ? In fome of the greateft
works of nature, God has not confined himfelf to any fuch
order and exactnefs. (q) The ftars, we fee, are not caft
into regular figures ; lakes and rivers are not bounded by
ftraight lines ; nor are hills and mountains exact cones or
pyramids. When a mighty prince declares his will by laws
and edicts to his fubjects, is he (do we think) careful at all
about a pure ftyle, or elegant composition ? Is not the
phrafe thought proper enough, if it conveys as much as was
intended ? And would not the fine Strains of fome modern
critics be thought pedantic and affected on fuch occafions ?
Why then fhould we expect in the oracles of God an ex-
actnefs, that would be (r) unbecoming, and beneath the
dignity of an earthly monarch, and which bears no pro-
portion or refemblancc to the magnificent works Of the
creation ? . A ftrict obfei vation of the rules of grammar
and rhetoric, in elegant expreflions, harmonious periods,
and technical definitions and partitions, may gratify indeed
fome readers ; but then it muft be granted, that thefe things
have the air of human contrivance in them ; whereas in
the fimple, unaffected, artlefs, unequal, bold, figurative
ftyle of the Holy Scriptures, there is a character Angularly
great and majeftic, and what looks more like divine infpi-
ration, than any other form of compofition.
The ftyle Thefe obfervations being premifed, if we fhould now
of fcripture confider the nature of eloquence in general, as it is defined
inrhudKve, by (j) Ariftotle, to be a faculty of pcrfuafion, which Cicero
^n(r a ec" makes to confift in three things, iiiftruSling, delighting,
and moving our readers or hearers mind, we fhall find, that
the Holy Scriptures have a fair claim to thefe feveral pro-
perties.
For where can we meet with fuch a plain reprefenta-
tion of things, in point of hiftory, and fuch cogent ar-
guments, in point of precept, as this one volume furnifhes
(q) Vid The Minute Philofophcr, dialogue 4.
(r) Cujufcunqne orationem videris ifollicitam et polirim, fcito
animum quoque non minus cSc pulillis occupatum : magnus * re-
miflius loquitur, et fecurius ; quascunque dicit plus habcnt fidu-
ciae quam curse; Sen. cy\(i. 115.
(s) Rhet. 1. 1. c. 2.
US
or Preparatory Discourse. lxiii
ns with ? Where is there an hiftory written more limply
and naturally, and at the fame time more nobly and
loftily, than that of the creation of the world ? Where are
the great leffons of morality taught with fuch force and
perfpecuity (except in the fermons of Chrift, and the wri-
tings of the apoftles) as in the book of Deuteronomy ?
Where is the whole compafs of devotion, in the feveral
forms of confeffion, petition, fupplication, thankfgiving,
vows, and praifes, fo punctually taught us, as in the book
of Pfalms ? Where are the rules of wifdom and prudence lo
convincingly laid down, as in the Proverbs of Solomon,
and the choice fentences of his Ecclefiaftes ? Where is vice
and impiety of all kinds more juftly difplayed, and more
fully confuted, than in the threats and admonitions of the
prophets ? And what do the little warmths, which may
be raifed in the fancy by an artificial compofure and ve-
hemence of ftyle, Signify, in companion of thofe ftrong
impulfes and movements which the Holy Scriptures make
upon good mens fouls, when they reprefent the frightful
juftice of an angry God to Stubborn offenders, and the
bowels of his compafTion, and unfpeakable kindnefs, to all '
true penitents and faithful fervants ?
The Holy Scripture indeed has none of thofe flaShy or-
naments of fpeech, wherewith human compositions fo plen-
tifully abound ; but then it has a Sufficient Stock of real and
peculiar beauties to recommend it. To give one instance
for all out of the hiStory of Jofeph and his family : the
whole relation indeed is extremely natural ; but the man-
ner of his difcovering himfelf to his brethren is inimitable, (t)
And Jofeph could no longer refrain himfelf — but, lifting
■up his voice with tears, faid - . ■ / am Jofeph Doth
my father yet live? And his brethren could not an fiver
him ; for they ivere troubled at his prefence. And Jofeph faid
to his brethren, Come near me, I pray you : and they came
near, and he faid, I am Jofeph ->< your brother whom
ye fold into Egypt. Nothing certainly can be a more livelv
defcription of Jofeph's tender refpecl: for his father, and
love for his brethren : And, in like manner, when his
brethren returned, and told their father in what fplendor
and glory his fon Jofeph lived, it is faid, that (u) Jacob's
heart fainted, for he believed them not ; but when he Jaw the
waggons which Jofeph had fent for him, the fpirit of Jacob,
their father, revived: and Ifrael faid, It is enough-' •
Jofeph my fon is yet alive • ■•> I will go ■ and fee himt
(/) Gcn.xlv. i. ire. (u) Ver. 26. ire.
before
Ixiv The APPARATUS,
before I die. Here is fuch a contraft of different pafilom.
of utter defpondency, dawning hope, confirmed faith, tri-
umphant joy, and paternal affecfion, as no orator in the
world could exprefs more movingly, in a more eafy man-
ner, or fhorter compafs of words,
yigurative ^ay niore, had I leifure to gratify the curious, I might
and lofty eafily fhew, that thofe very figures and fchemes of fpeech,
fometimes. which are f0 much admired in profane authors, as their
great beauties and ornaments, are no where more confpi-
cuous than in the facred.
One figure, for inftance, efteemed very florid among
the matters of art, is, when all the members of a period
begin with the fame word. The figure is called ana-
phora ; and yet (if I miftake not) the 1 5th pfalm affords
us a very beautiful pafTage of this kind. Lord, zvhofhall
abide in thy tabernacle ? Who jhall dwell in thy holy hill ?
He that ivalketh uprightly ; he that backbiteth not with
his tongue ; he that maketh much of them that fear the
Lord; he that fweareth to his hurt, and changeth not ;
he that putteth not out his money to ufury, nor taketh re-
ward againjl the innocent. He that does thefe things fhall
- never be moved.
The ancient orators took a great deal of pride in ran-
ging finely their antitheta. Cicero is full of this, and ufes
it many times to a degree of affectation ; and yet I can-
not find any place wherein he has furpaffed that paffage
of the prophet. (x) He that killeth an ox, is as if he
flew a man ; he that facrijiceth a lamb, as if he cut off a
\ dog's necks he that offer eth an oblation, as if he offered
f wines blood. But above all other figures, that, where-
on poets and orators love chiefly to dwell, is the hypo-
typofis, or lively defcription ; and yet we fhall hardly find,
in the beft claflic authors, any thing comparable, in this
regard, to the Egyptians deftruction in the R.ed Sea,
related (y) in the long of Mofes and Miriam ; to the de-
fcription of the Leviathan (z) in Job ; to the defcent of
God, and a ftorm at fea (a) in the Pialmift ; to the in-
trigues of an adulterous woman (b) in the Proverbs ; to
the pride of the Jewifh ladies (c) in Ifaiah ; and to the
plague of locuits (d) in Joel ; which is x-eprefented like the
ravaging of a country, and {forming a city by an army :
A jire devoureth before them, and behind them a deflate
(x) Ifa. Ixvi. -?. (y) Exod. xv. (z) Cb. xli. {a) Pfal. xviii.
1 7. (*) Ch. vii. (0 Ch. iv. (d) Ch. i.
wiLLmefs,
or Preparatory Discourse. Ixv
iviidernefs, and nothing Jball efcape them. Before their
face people Jhall be pained; all faces fhall gather blacknefs.
They fhall run like mighty men; they fhall climb the "wall like
men of war ; they fhall march every one in his way, and they
fhall not break their ranks. They fhall run to and fro in
the city ; they fball run upon the wall ; they Jhall climb up up-
on the houfes ; they jhall enter into the windows as a thief.
The defcription is more remarkable, becaufe the analogy is
carried quite throughout without draining, and the whole
proceffes of a conquering army in the manner of their march,
their deftroying the proviilon, and burning the country,
in their {baling the walls, breaking into houies, and running
about the vanquished city, are fully delineated and fet before
our eyes.
From thefe few examples (for it would be endlefs to at all time*
proceed in inftances of this kind) it appears, that the HcIyPr0Per*
Bible is far from being defective in point of eloquence ; and
(what is a peculiar commendation of it) its ftyle is full of
a grateful variety ; ibmetimes majeitic, as becomes that high
and holy one who inhabiteth eternity ; ibmetimes fo low, as
to anfvver the other part of his character, who dwelleth with-
him that is of an humble fpirit ; and, at all times fo proper,
and adapted fb well to the feveral iubjects it treats of, that
(e) whoever conliders it attentively will perceive, in the
narrative parts of it, a ffrain fo fimple and unaffected ; ia
the prophetic and devotional, fomething fo animated and
fublime ; and in the doctrinal and preceptive, fuch an air
of dignity and authority, as feems to fpeak its original di-
vine.
We allow indeed, that method is an excellent art, Method, a
highly conducive to the clearnefs and perfpicuity of dif-mcclr,n "'"
courfe ; but then we affirm, that it is an art of modern in-
vention in comparifon to the times when the facrcd pen-
men wrote, and incompatible with the manner of writing
which was then in vogue. "We indeed in Europe, who,
in this matter, have taken our examples from Greece, can
hardly read any thing with pieamre that is not digefted
into order, and forted under proper heads ; but the ea-
frern nations, who were ufed to a free way of difcourie,
and never cramped their notions by methodical limitations,
would have deipifed a composition of this kind as much
as we do a fchool-boy's theme, with all the formalities of
its exordiums, ratios, and cenfirmatios. And, if this
(<?) The Minute Philofopher, dial, a.
Vol. T. T was
lxvi The APPARATUS
was no precedent for other nations, much lefs can we think,
that God Almighty's methods ought to be confined to hu-
man laws, which, being designed for the narrownefs of our
conceptions, might be improper and injurious to his, whofe
thoughts are as jar above ours, as the heavens are higher than
the earth.
and not fo The truth is, (f) infpiration is, in fome meafure, the
pi r in language of another world, and carries in it the reafoning
compofi- °^ fpfritSj which, without controverfy, is vaStly different
tions, from ours. We indeed, to make things lie plain be-
fore our underftandings, are forced to fort them out into
diftinct partitions, and coniider them by little and little,
that fo at laft, by gradual advances, we may come to a to-
lerable conception of them ; but this is no argument for us
to think that pure fpirits do reafon after this manner.
Their underftandings are quick and intuitive : they fee the
whole compafs of rational inferences at once ; and have no
need of thofe little methodical distinctions which often-
times help the imperfection of our intellects. Now, though
we do not aflert, that the language of the Holy Scriptures
is an exact copy of the reafoning of the fpiritual world ;
yet, Since they came by the infpiration of the Holy Ghofi, it
is but reasonable to expect that they mould preferve fome
finall relifh of it ; as books tranflated into anodier tongue
always retain fome marks of their originals. And hence it
comes to pafs, that though the Holy Ghoft does vouchfafe
to fpeak in the language of men, yet, in his divine com-
positions, there are fome traces to be found of that bold
and unlimited ratiocination which is peculiar to the hea-
venly inhabitants, whofe noble and flaming thoughts are
never clogged with the cold and jejune laws of human me-
thod. To which purpofe we may obferve, that, even a-
mong the Heathens, whenever their authors reprefent a
perfon infpired, a Sibyl, a Caffandra, or a Tirelias, they
never introduce him making a fet formal fpeech, but al-
ways faying fomething noble and fublime, which difdains
all 'ordinary artificial fetters. And, if the greateft mafters
of polite writing thought it proper to neglect all rules and
reftraints in competitions of pretended infpiration, why
Should that be accounted culpable in the Holy Scriptures
which is held fo exquisite in Sophocles, or any other lofty
tragedian ?
(f) Nichols's conference with a TheiSl, vol. i.
But
or Preparatory Discourse. Jxvii
But after all, the Holy Scriptures (as far as can be ex- though, in
pected) are not destitute of method. They are not indeed™^ ca-
wrote upon the plan of forne Greek and Latin compositions ; ^i \K
but they are delivered in fuch a manner as is eafy to be un- obfervc it ;
derftood, not unpleafant to read, and, to thofe who are
accuftomed to oriental compofitions, exceedingly beautiful.
For, where can we find a more methodical hiitory than
that of Mofes, beginning at the firlf creation of all things,
and the formation of human kind ; proceeding in the ac-
count of their increafe, depravation, and almoft total de-
ftruction by an univerfal deluge ; after their fecond increafe,
relating their relapfe into idolatry, and thereupon God's
electing a peculiar people to ferve him according to his own
appointment ; and fo recording the firft original and va-
rious adventures of their progenitors ; the afflictions and
wanderings of that chofen nation, and the polity which
they fhould obferve when once they were fettled in the
promifed land ? Nothing can be more clear and regular
than this. And as for the other hiftorians who wrote the
tranfactions of the Jewifh nation from the conqueft of
Canaan to the Babylonifh captivity, they are fo exact in ob-
ferving the order and feries of time, and in felting down
the length of each prince's reign, that they afford a better
foundation for hiftorical truth, as well as chronological
certainty, than is to be found in the beft Heathen writers of
this kind.
It cannot be expected indeed, that pfalms and hymns
wrote upon fundry occafions, or fuch proverbs and wife
axioms as took their rife from different obfervations, and
were noted down the inftant they were conceived, fhould
have any connection or mutual dependence. Prophecies
too were to be ioofe, and unconfined to rule, as being the
language of a fpirit, which will admit of no reftraint ; but,
as for the doctrinal and argumentative parts of the fcripture,
they are digefted in fuch a manner as to make them plain
and intelligible : and though the partitions and tranfitions of
them are not fo formally diftinct as in fome other books ;
yet are they perceivable enough to an attentive reader, and
will receive great illuitration from the analytical works of
fome expofitors.
It mult not be diffembled however, that the Hebrew And why-
tongue (wherein a great part of the Bible was written) hasQ°™c
many words, confuting of the fame fyllables, and yet of
very different Significations ; and that it is defective in Seve-
ral moods and teiifes which our modern languages have :
I 2 lb
lxviii The APPARATUS,
fo that, if the tranflator has miftaken the fignification of
the word, he fpoils the connexion ; or, if he has not given
the verb the right mood and tenfe, (which, in a great mea-
iure, he is obliged to guefs at), there will be a plain incohe-
rence in the fenfe. Nor muft it be forgot, that the prefent
divifion of the fcripture into chapters and verfes (though of
excellent ufe to the memory) has fometimes feparated things
which mould have bsen united, and fometimes united mat-
ters that lhould have been feparated ; and this difturbs the
fenfe, and makes it look wild and incoherent to fuch as are
not qualified to obferve its propriety and connection in the
original.
The caufes Thefe are fome of the caufes of the feeming irregu-
of fome larky, and the like may be faid of the great obfcurity
©bicunty . ~ J ~ .
In the which lome have complained of in the Holy Scriptures ;
fcripmres; viz. that, where it is not occafioned by the fubject-matter,
which fometimes contains myffceries above all human com-
prehenfion, and fometimes alludes to cufloms and tranfac-
tions Avhich length of time has concealed from our know-
ledge, it ttfually happens, when the lignification of words
is ambiguous and uncertain in the original ; when there
cccur fome particular idioms of the Hebrew tongue not fo
familiar to us ; when the conftruction is intricate, and the
words make different fenfes, according as they are differ-
ently joined together ; when the ftyle itfelf is obfcure by
reafon of metaphors and allegories, which are ufual in the
poetical books ; when the writer paffes from one fubject
to another fomewhat abruptly, which frequently happens in
the prophetical ; or when he makes tranfpofitions in the
order of narration, as is fometimes perceiveable in the hi-
ftorical. But, thefe cafes excepted, (which, with a little
ftudy and application of our own, as- well as attention to
thofe who undertake the expofition of thefe difficulties,
may eafily be remedied), that the Holy Scriptures are, in
all points neceffary to falvation, and, to all perfons of
competent underftanding, fufficiently plain and intelligible,
the very defign of God's having them wrote, is a fufficient
demonflration. For, as the defign of all writing is to con-
vey our thoughts intelligibly to others, fo would it be a
great reflection upon the divine wifdom, if a book written
by God's direction, and for the inftruction of mankind,
fhould fall fhort of that end, which even human compofi-
tions feldom fail of.
particular- We cannot deny indeed but that there is a great ob-
iy "V the . ic ur ity generally fbread over the writings of the prophets ;
Pr0?« ets • km
or Preparatory Discourse. lxix
but then we affirm, that fuch obfcuvity is neceffary for
wife purpofes and providential reafons. For, as the crea-
tor of the world governs it with wifdom, and (where the
free will of man is concerned) with great condefcenlion ;
had the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets future events
fo diftinctly, as that they might have expreifed the moft
minute circumftance of time, place, perfons, <bc. in pro-
per terms ; had the predictions, I fay, been fo plain and
apparent, that every body, at firft light, might fee the
whole contrivance, and look through all the fcenes of action,
they could never have- been accomplilhed, without offering
violence (by fome miraculous interpolition) to mens vo+
luntary determinations. Had God, for inftance, foretold
our Saviour's crucifixion, with all its particular circum-
ftances, the manner how, the time when, the place where,
and the perfons by whom, it was to be effected ; it is hardly
fuppofable, that the chief priefts, and fo many principal
men among the Jews, would have had an hand in it, with-
out being perfectly carried on to it by an over-ruling power,
againft their own inclinations ; which (befides its contra-
riety to the principles of human nature) muft needs make
God the author of Jin. But fince the prophecies con-
cerning the Meffias and his fufferings were delivered with
fuch a mixture of obfcurity, as never fully to be under-
ffcood till after their accompliihment, they gave room for
the Jews malice to concur with God's providence in bring-
ing this matter to pafs : and fo (as St. Paul tells us) (g)
becaitfe they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets,
they fulfilled them in condemning him. So neceffary it was,
that all prophecies of future events fhould be couched un-
der dark and enigmatical phrafes, left, by being too plainly
foretold, they might poffibly chance to deftroy themfelves,
and defeat their own intention.
We acknowledge ftill farther, that, befides the predic- And the ci-
tions of the prophets, there are feveral points contained Pediency ot
r . r . r /-i i c fome my-
m lcripture quite remote from the common apprehenfionfterjes> '
of mankind, and, in many refpects, hard to be underftood.
But then we muft obferve withal, that, as thefe obfeure
paffages are very few in comparifon of the plain texts,
and no more hinder us from underftanding the plain,
than the fpots in the fun debar us from the light of it ;
fb are they far from reflecting dishonour upon the dif-
penfation itfelf. If we confider ferioufly with ourfelves, we
(g) Actsxiii. 27.
cannot
Ixx The APPARATUS,
cannot but fay, that it is more reafonable to fuppofe (h),
that a revelation from God (hould contain fomethiag dif-
ferent in kind, and more excellent in degree, than what
lay open to the common fenfe of men, or could be difco-
vered even by the moft fagacious philofophers. The coun-
cils of princes, we know, lie often beyond the ken of their
lubjecls, who can only perceive fo much as is revealed by
thole who lit at the helm, and are often unqualified to
judge of the ufefulnefs and tendency even of that, till in
due time the fcheme unfolds, and is accounted for by
fucceeding events. This makes the councils of princes re-
vered, and preferves the dignity of the cabinet. And in
like manner, why may not we fuppofe, that, (i) as eaii-
nefs of accefs is many times known to lay a man open to
contempt ; fo, to protect his revelation from rude en-
croachments, by impreffing an awe and reverential fear
upon our minds, God has thought proper to furround it (as
it were) with a facred and majeftic obfeurity, and, in fome
parts of it, to exhibit fuch exalted truths as tranfeend the
reach of human wifdom ; thereby to humble the pride
and haughtinefs of our reafon ; and thereby to engage us
in a clofer and more diligent fearch into fuch fubjects as
will every moment furnilh us with new matter to enter-
tain the buiieft contemplation, to the utmoft period of hu-
man life.
Reafons for Thefe are fome reafons for the obfeurity, and the like
contradic- may De ^a^ f°r tne feeniing contradictions (efpecially in
tions in matters of chronology) which are faid to occur in the fa-
fenpture, cre(j writings. For if we coniider the different cuftoms and
ways of fpeaking which were in ufe in former days, but
now are obfolete ; and yet we might happily reconcile fome
repugnant expreffions, if we were but acquainted with thofe
ufages, to which in all probability they allude : if we
coniider the narrow compafs of the Hebrew tongue,
wherein one word has fometimes a great many ligniiica-
tions ; and yet we might make feveral contradictory paiiages
agree, if we knew but how to give the fame word one
iignification in the firft paffage, and another in the fecond :
and more efpecially, if we coniider that chronology is a
part of learning of all others the moft difficult to be ad-
jufted; that the leaft alteration of a word or letter may
make an exceeding great difference ; that the Jewiih years
do not exactly quadrate with thofe of other nations, either
- (h) Fid. Minute Philofopher, dialogue 6. (/) South's
fermofis.
as
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxi
as to their length, or their beginning ; and that the fuper-
numerary months of kings reigns do often puzzle the
general computation ; we cannot much wonder, that in the
midft of fo many difficulties, there mould be found fome
ieeming repugnancies in the fenfe of fome texts, as well as
in the accounts of time. But when we confider farther,
that by mewing the different acceptation of the words and
expreffions in thefe feemingly interfering places ; by fet-
tling the chronological accounts, and comparing them with
other parts of fcripture which have an analogy with them ;
and by ufing, in fhort, thofe feveral . rules of interpretation
and criticifrn which are wont to be employed in the ex-
plication of all Other authors, all thefe incongruities are
iufficiently cleared up by learned men ; we fhall be induced
to think, that they are fo far from invalidating the autho-
rity of the Holy Scriptures, that they do, in a great mea-
lure, confirm it. Pt>r if the fcriptures had been written
by a cabal of men defigning to impofe upon the world,
undoubtedly thefe men would have ufed all circumfpe£tion
and caution, that no fign of contradiction fhould have ap-
peared in their writings, becaufe nothing is fo exacl: as a
ftudied cheat ; whereas it is no imall argument of the ve-
racity of thefe writers, that they agree with one another
in all material points, and only neglecl an exadtnefs in
fome little punctilios, wherein nothing but a confederacy
could have made them uniform.
But after all, we talk of contradictions, and other ab-thouSh ne
furdities ; of digreffions, repetitions, falfe reafonings, ^"LkJ^L'
pertinent, and fometimes ridiculous relations in fcripture, quired into,
which, upon better examination, will be found reconciie-
able to good fenfe, and in fome refpect prove its very
perfection and ornament. We may think it a little ftrange,
for inftance, that Cain, upon the murder of his brother,
fhould be introduced, as laying, (A) every one that jindcth
rne jkall flay me ; and prefently after, as (/) going into the
land of Nod, and there building him a city ; whereas, ac-
cording to the common notion, there were but (befides
himfelf) three perfons, his father, mother, and his wife,
upon the face of the whole earth : but now, if the word
Kol, which we render every one, may as well be tranflated
every thing, every creature (m), every wild beaft of the
(k) Gen. iv. 14. (/) Ver 17. (;//) He was afraid (fays
Jofephus) left, while he wandered up and down in the eanli
(which was part of his punifhment) he fhould fall smong fome I
bcafts, and be ilain by them ; Ant'tq. lib. \. cap. 3.
field,
lxxii The APPARATUS,
field, (the man's confcience foreboding that God might
poffibly let looie the brute-creation upon him), and if, up-
on a moderate computation, the other defcendents of A-
dam (for Mofes takes notice only of the two lines of Cain
and Seth) might be numerous enough to flock whole
countries with inhabitants, (as fome have calculated even to
a demonftration) where will the abfurdity be then ?
Digreffions It may look perhaps like a carelefs ramble of thought,
infcnpture.to fee a prophet, (for it is only in the prophetical works
that this happens), after he has begun a plain and methodi-
cal difcourfe upon an incidental word or expreffion,
break out all at once into a long digreffion, which feems
not fo fuitable to his main purpole ; but if we attend to
the matter of that digreffion, we fhall generally find it a
prediction of the glad tidings of the Goipel, the moll im-
portant fubject that infpired authors can employ their
thoughts upon, and what the Holy«Ghoft took every oc-
cafion to mggeft to their minds. Nor can we be ignorant,
that in the belt Heathen writers who pretended to infpi-
ration (as mofl of their poets did) thefe very digreffions
(which were ftyled epifodes) were thought their greateft
beauties ; and that in fome of their loftiefl compolitions,
(fuch as thofe of Pindar and of Horace, («) where he imi-
tates Pindar), thefe wild excurlions were held elTential to
the poem, the only indications of the divine enthuliafm,
and fome of the daring flights of a bold afpiring mufe,
which defpifed all rules, and difdained to be controlled.
Repetitions The repetitions in fcripture we perhaps may take of-
^vhenc^lcK:e-^ence at' anc^ tn^n^ tnem more frequent in the Bible than
cafioned. in any other book. But when it is confidered that the fe-
veral traces of the Bible were written by different perfons,
and at different times, it can be no more fault or blemifh
in it, that its different writers mould fometimes happen to
fay the fame things, than that the fame hiftory fhould be
written by Appian and Curtius, or the fame arguments
made ufe of by Ariftotle and Cicero.
This is a cafe, without a combination, unavoidable.
But * when we confider withal, that the things which
are faid to be fo often repeated, are generally fuch as relate
to moral duties, which can never be fufnciently enforced,
and that in inculcating thefe the facred writers have ufed
all the variety that can be expected ; in fome places ex-
horting men to goodnefs, from the reward; in others,
(«) Fid. Carm. 1. 3. ode 3. where the digreffion begins,
Jine 18. * Bo/Ie of the ftyle of the fcripuires.
from
or Preparatory Discourse. l\xiii
from the beauty of virtue ; in fome exhibiting the danger,
in fome the turpitude, and in others the folly of iln ; here
commending fobriety from its temporal, and there from its
eternal recompence ; here rcprefenting pride as conieinpti-
ble to men, and there as hateful to God ; and every where
diverfifying their arguments, to make them work upon the
love, the hope, or the fear of their readers, from the
confideration of the goodnefs, the promifes, or the juftice
of God : when we obferve the prophets denouncing judg-
ments, fometimes againft the people, fometimes againft the
priefts, and at other times againft the kings ; fome re-
prehending them for their pride, fome for their idolatry,
and others for their profanation of the Sabbath ; one bring-
ing them the joyful news of areftoration from their cap-
tivity, and another of their redemption by the Meffias ; one
weeping over the Old Jerufalem, and another ravifhed with
the thoughts of the New : when we confider, I fay, this
wonderful variety of frefh matter in the facred writers,
both moral and prophetical, we cannot but adore the good-
nefs of God, in giving us line upon line, and precept upon
precept ; in condefcending fo gracioufly to our infirmities.
that in almoft every page of his Holy Word he has fupplicd
us with frelh motives and exhortations to thofe great and
momentous duties we are fo apt to tranfgrefs ; and muff-
needs be very grofsly prejudifed, if we can fuppofe, that the
writings either of Seneca, (who ufually feeds his reader
with nothing but whipt cream, or a very little fenfc frothed
out into a multitude of words), or even of the divine Pla-
to himfelf, (who, ftripped of his unintelligible rant, makes
but a poor figure in point of folid fenfe), any way comparable
to the Holy Bible, wherein God feems to have provided
for our entertainment, as well as our edification ; and to
have overfpread it with a pleallng diverfity of funjecls and
arguments, in the fame manner that he has adorned the
creation with a curious variety of plants and animals.
It muft not be diffembled indeed, that, what with mif-™^' iwir<.
rendering the connective particles, which have many d:f-',- •loiua~
r r •,- i 11 / x .,- , . ionine vin»
rerent lignihcations, and now and then (o) milplacmg aujcatcu;
parenthefis in the Hebrew tongue, the thread of the dif-
courfe comes often to be interrupted ; and thole who over-
look the figurative, and fometimes abrupt way of arguing
jifual among the caftern nations, (where the reader is often
left to make the deduction for himfelf), will meet with
feme perplexities : but where either this is not the cafe,
(o) Parenthefes were not originally in the Hebrew tongue.
"K or
lxxiv The APPARATUS,
or where thefe difficulties are furmounted, a man of a
competent underftanding may iee the force and tendency
oi- any fcripture-ai*gtiiiiehtJ as clearly as if it were drawn
np in mood and figure. The art of logic is a novel ra-
tion, compared with the date of the authors we are
now fpeaking of: and therefore they are not blameable for
not being perfect; in all the niceties of the Greek fchools ;
elpecially confidering, that if even they had been mafters
of this art, fince they were to addrefs themfelves to popu-
lar auditories, prudence would have directed them to make
ufe of popular arguments, (as we find they did), which, in
ir.ch a cdic, the greateft Heathen orators have always em-
ployed, and thence found, that they carried their point with
better fuccefs than in the molt irrefragable fyllogifms.
(*) The Heathen moralifts, we find, urge virtue from
the rational topics of conveniency and inconveniency, by
difplaying the amiablenefs and advantages of good, and
deformity and mifchiefs of evil : and are not the argu-
ments which Moles ufes to engage the Jews to a compli-
ance with the laws which God enjoined them, drawn
from the obligation they owed him for his creating them ;
from his delivering them from bondage, and making them
his cholen people; from the profperity which their obe-
dience would procure, and the certain calamities which
their difobedience would bring upon them ; are not the
arguments which the prophets ufe, when they denounce
inch terrible judgments againft them, and tax them with
tuch vile ingratitude, fuch ftupid idolatry, and fuch other
awakening motives to repentance • are not thefe argu-
ments, I fay, as powerful to perfuade a nation to abandon
their fins, and adhere to the fervice of God, as the moft
pompous harrangues concerning the wretchednefs of vice,
and the beatitudes of philofophic virtue ? (q) efpecialiy,
confidering, that what thefe fcriptural writers have left us
-.shacked with the authority of Almighty God, which
iriftead ofa thoufand arguments and reafonings.
'?, " .1 mention but one obie&ion more, and that is, the im-
me reuit'ons occurring m the hiuorical,
ulbufhefs of fome actions mentioned in the
s of Scripture : but before we pafs that
tire, we f > well to coniider, whether the facred
■ b!y have fome farther profpect in re-
cording tl -s, than we, at this diftance of time,
(/•) Voting's Scrnfcns.' (a) Edwards on the Excellency of
in
axe
Or Preparatory Discourse. Ixxv
are aware of. The book of Ruth, the hillory of Ifaac and
Rebecca, of Jofeph and his brethren, fee. (which fome are
pleafed to call little fimple family -Jtories) deferve a better
name, even though they were no more than fhort memoirs
of the Jewifh hiftory, giving us an account of the lives
of fome confiderable perfonages of that nation : but when
we confider the whole fcheme of God's providential dif-
penlation, in fending the Meffias into the world, and the
method which he was pleafed to take in preparing the
way for it, by feparating one man's family (from whofe
loins the deligned Saviour of the world was to defcend)
from his idolatrous relations and countrymen, and making -
his offspring the ftandard of true religious worfhip for
many ages ; it is but reafonable to fuppofe, that fome par-
ticular account fhould be given of the origin of this ex-
traordinary family, by which all the world has received
fuch a wonderful benefit, and all the kingdoms of the eai ih
have been ble(fed in the birth of Jefus Chrift. And when
we confider farther, that many things relatingf o Abraham
and Sarah, the facrifice of Ifaac, and the captivity and
exaltation of Jofeph, isc. are fo particularly related, be-
caufe God deligned that thefe occurrences lhould be types
and fhadows of fome things remarkable under the gofpel,
viz. of the incarnation, paflion, refurrection, and afcen-
fion of our Lord and Saviour ; we cannot but perceive that,
if the hiftorian had omitted the relation of thefe ancient
facts, Chriftianity had wanted fome confiderable evidences
of its truth, and the wife fcheme of God's providence, in the
falvation of the world, had not been fo amply difplayed.
There is more difficulty indeed, in accounting for fome nor ridicii'
paffages in die behaviour of the prophets, in whom any in- !ous ;
difcretion may be held more inexcusable ; becaufe they are
all along fuppofed to be guided by the Holy Ghoft ; and in
thofe very actions which are thought liable to cenfure,
had the immediate orders and injuncTrtons of God : nnd yet,
when we re£d of Ifaiah's (r) ivalk'nig naked, and barefoot
three years ; of Jeremiah's taking a long journey, only (j-)
to carry a linen girdle, and hide it in the hole of the reck
of the river Euphrates ; of Ezekiel's (t) taking his houfehold-
Ji.'dJ-, and digging a hole through the wall of the city, to
carry it out ; and of Holla's (//) going, and taking unto him
aivifc of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, &c. when
(r) Ifa. xx. 3. (s) Jer. xiii. 4. (/) Ez.ek, xu. 7. (u) Hof. i. 2.
K 2 we
Ixxvi The APPARATUS,
we read thefe extravagant actions, I fay, if we were to un-
derstand them in a literal CenCc, we Should be apt to ac-
count the doers of them distracted, rather than infpired ;
and under fome temptation to think, that, by putting them
upon fuch unaccountable offices, God was minded to make
his Servants ridiculous. The Scripture, however, has taken
care to inform us, that (x) the fpirits of the prophets are
jubjctl to the prophets, i. e. (y) they are not hurried on by a
mad enthufiafm, but are always left in a compofure of
mind, fit to comport themfelves, and to fpeak to the people,
as the ministers of a rational and all-wife God.
Now there are three ways whereby learned men have
undertaken to account for thefe feemingly {trance and whim-
ileal actions of the prophets, (z) Some fuppofe, that what,
in thefe and feveral other places is told, was really and
literally performed : others, that it was tranfacted in vifion ;
and others again, that it is all no more than a parable,,
dictated by God to the prophet, and by the prophet recited
to the people. However, to make thefe and fuch like ac-
tions of the feveral prophets, all of a piece and uniform, we
are to obferve, that whereas fome of them are only paraboli-
cal, and others impolfible to be tranfacted in reality, (for
though Jeremiah, for inftance, might take too long jour-
nies to Euphrates, about the affair of a girdle, without demur-
ring to the authority of him who fent him ; yet we can
hardly think that he really fent bonds and yokes to the feveral
princes that are mentioned, ch. xxvii. ver. 2. 3. much lefs
that he took the wine cup from the hand of God, and
made the kings of all nations, as is related, ch. xxv. ver. 1 5.
&c. drink thereof) ; whereas, I fay, the nature of the thing
would not permit thefe and the like actions to be performed
in reality, we have abundant reafon to fuppofe, that they
were performed in an imaginary {enfc only, i. c. that thele
actions of the prophets were, by a divine impulfe, repre-
fented to them (a) in a dream or trance, which left in
their minds a lively idea, and occaiioned their publishing to
the people, not only the representations themfelves, but
(x) Vid. Lowth on Infpiration. (j) 1 Cor.xiv 32. (z) Wa-
terland's Scripture vindication, part 7.
(a) That thefe actions of the prophets were not real, but
merely imaginary, and fuch as wrre reprefented upon the Stage of
their fancies, when in a dream or a trance, muit be plain to eve-
ry one who ■ccnfiders the circurritanccs of them. Smith's Select
dtfcouries;
what
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxvii
what they were likewife defigned to typify, with more force
and energy. And accordingly we may obferve, that even
in the Chriftian church, when the fpirit of prophecy came
to revive, thefe kind of emblematical reprefentations were
likewife introduced, as is evident, not only from Agabus's
taking St Paul's girdle, (b) and binding his own hands and
feet, to fignify what fhould befal the owner thereof, as
loon as he came to Jerulalem, but more particularly from
St Peter's vifion (c) of the Jheet let down from heaven,
wherein were all manner of four-footed beajls of the earth,
and wild beajls, and creeping things, and fowls of the
air : Which vilion we find him, in his vindication (d)
foon after, recounting to the Jews with all boldnefs, and
explaining likewife the fymbolical intent of it, viz. his com-
miffion, and delegation to preach to thefe Gentiles, in or-
der to their converfion.
Thus we have taken a furvey of the fcriptures of the but, taken
Old Teftament ; found out their authors, and the nature a11 to2e"
. . i tner, very
and degree of their infpiration ; inquired into the number beautiful
and order of their books, and by whofe care and fuperin- and excel-
tendency they were all digefted into one code ; traced downlent'
their defcent, even to our own times, without any lois
or confiderable alteration ; and (what we chiefly intended)
endeavoured to fatisfy the moft popular objections that are
ufually made againlt them. And indeed the objections a-
gainft them would be far from being lb many, if we had a
little more ikill and knowledge in them ; but the misfor-
tune is, we live at a great diftance from the apoftolic age,
and much more from the lateft times of the infpired writers
of the Old Teftament, and fo muft needs be under fome
difficulties, from our unacquaintance with the ftyle and
way of writing, as well as the manners and cuftoms of
thofe ages. There will, of neceffity, therefore, be fome
ipots and dark places in them, as there are in the fun, not
for want of light and elegance originally in them, (anymore
than for want of light in the fun), but by reafon of fome
deficiency in ourfelves, who are at a diftance, and under
fuch circumftances as intercept our fight, and hinder us
from making true and exact obfervations. But if we could
ftand (as we are to judge of pictures) in the fame light in
which they were drawn, and had lived in the fame ages in
which thefe books were written, we fhould be able to make
a much truer judgment, and penetrate much farther into
the meaning of them, than we now can do. And even in
(b) Atfs acxi.ii. (f) £cls x, It. (,/) ch. xi. 5-
our
Ixxviii
The APPARATUS,
our prefent fituation, if we would make any tolerable judg-
ment of them, we muft not confider them feparately, but
as they all together make up a compleat fyftem of religion :
and therefore, (to conclude this argument in the words of
a pious vindicator of the ftyle of the Holy Scriptures), (e)
I conceive, fays he, that, as in a lovely face, though the
eye, the nofe, the lips, and the other parts, fingly
looked on, may beget delight, and deferve praife ; yet
the whole face muft necefTarily lofe much, by not being
all feen together : fo, though the feveral portions of
Scripture do, irrelatively, and in themfelves, fufficiently
evidence their heavenly extraction, yet he who fhall at-
tentively furvey that whole book of canonical writings,
which we now call the Bible, and mall judicioufly, in
their fyftem, compare and confer them together, may
difcern, upon the whole matter, fo admirable a con-
texture and difpolition, as may manifeft that book to
be the work of the fame wifdom, which fo accurately
compofed the book of nature, and fo divinelv contrived
this vaft fabric of the world." And therefore to pro-
ceed to other confiderations.
The Bible One commendation of that part of the Bible which
the beft and is called the Old "Tejl anient, is, that it is the beft, as well as
™oft ??: moil ancient hiftory in the world, The Egyptians of old,
cient hiuo- .
rv in the we r^ad, contended with the Babylonians and Chaldeans,
world. Thefor the glory of antiquity ; and as the Babylonians divide
pretenfions ^g fl-ate 0f mankind into three governments, viz. the firft
gyptians * under gods, which (according to them) contains ten gene-
rations, the fecond under demi-gods, or heroes, and the
third under kings or men ; and during the courle of thefe
three ftates, they reckon up above 30,000 years ; fo Ma-
netho, the Egyptian hiftorian, to difplay the antiquity of
his nation, and throw the balance on their fide, divides, in
like manner, his chronological account into the fame forms
of government of gods, demi-gods, and kings ; and from
the pretended pillars of Hermes, (whence he compiled his
hiftory), makes the whole amount to upwards of ^5, 525
years. There is good reafon, however, why we fhould
defpife fuch monftrous accounts as have only bare words
for their foundation,, and are plainly contrary to all obfer-
vations on the progrefs of mankind, the improvement of
husbandry, and the advancement of arts and fciences.
We acknowledge indeed, that the moft ancient way of
preferving any monuments of learning, in thoie elder times,'
(e) Mr Boyle, p. 74.
and
and Chal
deans.
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxix
•and efpecially among the Egyptians, was by infci iptions on
pillars ; but befides the difficulties of conceiving how pil-
lars of any kind fhould be able to withftand the violence of
the deluge, without being defaced, belides, that no other
hiftorian, who has wrote of the affairs of Egypt, has once
made mention of thefe pillars, and that Dicdcrus (who li-
ved iince the time of Manetho) never once quotes him as an
author of any credit ; there is, in truth, very little in his
dynafties, belides names and numbers, except it be now
and then a ftory of the Nile's overflowing with honey, of
the moon's growing bigger, of a fpeaking lamb, and feven
kings who fucceflively reigned as many days, one king
only a day ; and fuch other ftrange and romantic accounts,
as are enough to invalidate the authority of any writer.
The Chmefe at prefent are very ambitious to be thought Of the Chi-
an ancient people, and would make us believe, that theyllcfe-
can reckon up fucceffions of kings and their reigns, for
feveral thoufand years before the beginning of the world
affigned by Mofes ; but befides that, (/) the character which
writers (who have lived among them) do generally give that
nation, viz. That they are men of a trifling and credulous
curioiity, addicted to fearch after the philofcpher's ftone,
and a medicine to make them immortal ; and whatever
advantage their fituation and political maxims have given
them, are far from being fo learned, or fo accurate in point
of any fcience, as the Europeans : It is plain, from all ac-
counts, that their antiquities reach no higher than the times
of Fohi ; for Fohi was their firft king, and his age coin-
cides with that of Noah : So that upon the whole, we have
good reafon to queftion the authenticnefs of thofe annals
which relate fuch fabulous things, as the fun's not fetting
for ten days, and the clouds raining gold for three days
together. But of what antiquity focvev their firft writers
might be, it is certain, that fince the time of Hoan-ti,
their Xlth emperor, who, about 200 years before Chrift,
ordered (upon pain of death) all the monuments of anti-
quity, whether hiftorical or philofophical, to be c'cflroyed ;
there is little or no credit to be given to the books which
they produce : and though they make mighty boafts of the
date and perfection of fuch volumes as they pretend
efcapeel the common wreck; yet if we may credit the tefti-
jnony of periods who made it their particular bulinels
(f) Vid. he Cpmptc's memoirs, and Bjanchini's h'il. umverf.
(when
ted
lxxx The APPARATUS.
(when among them) to inquire, they have not any one copy,
in an intelligible character, above 2000 years old.
And Gre- The Grecians of old were ib very great pretenders to
cians refu- antiquity, that they {"corned to have any father or '" founder
of their nation aftigned them ; and therefore they affected
to be called Aborigines, et Genuini Terrce, the eldeft fons
of the earth, if not coeval with it : and yet if we look
into the date of their hiftorians, we mail find, that none
of them exceeded the times of Cyrus and Cambyfes (g), a-
bout 550 ears before Chrift ; that feveral of their ancient
writers have left nothing behind them, but barely their
names ; and that even from thofe whofe works have de-
fcended to us, we have no account of any hiftorical facts,
older than the Perfian war. Herodotus (who wrote a lit-
tle more than 400 years before Chrift) is called by Cicero
the Father of hiftory, as being the eldeft Greek hiftorian
that we have extant ; and yet when he pretends to relate
the origin of any nation, or tranfactions of any confider-
able diftance, he is forced to interfperfe many fabulous re-
ports which himfelf feems not to believe ; and for this rea-
fon, fome imagine it a point of modefty and ingenuity in
him, that he calls the books of his hiftory by the names of
the Mufes, on purpofe to let his readers know, that they
were not to look for mere hiftory in them, but a mixture
of fuch relations, as (though not ftrictly true) would ne-
verthelefs pleafe and entertain them. However this be, it is
certain, that Thucydides, in the very entrance of his hifto-
ry, not only confeffes, but largely afferts the impoffibility
of giving any competent account of the times which pre-
ceded the Peloponnefian war ; and therefore we find Plu-
tarch, who ventured no farther back than the times of
(k) Thefeus, (a little before the miniftry of Samuel), juftly
obferving, that, " as hiftorians, in their geographical de-
" fcriptions of countries, croud into the fartheft parts of
" their maps, thofe places which they know nothing of,
" with fome fuch remarks as thefe on the margin; all
" beyond is nothing but dry defarts, impajfable mountains,
" frozen feas, and the like : So I may well fay of the
*' facts of hiftory, that are farther off than the times of
" Thefeus ; all beyond is nothing but monftroits, and tragical
" fitlions. There the poets, and there the inventors of
" fables dwell : nor is there any thing to be expected
{g) Vid. Stillingflcet's Orig. Sac. chap. 4. (/>) Vid. the life
01 Thefeus,
" worth v
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxxi
" worthy of credit, or what carries the leaft appearance c£
" certainty."
But now, whoever reads the Bible with care and im-
partiality, in the hiftorical part of it, will find nothing fa-
bulous or romantic ; no computations of an immoderate
fize ; no excurlions into ages infinite and innumerable ; no
fucceflions of monarchs, heroes, and demi-gods, for thou-
fands of thoufand generations. On the contrary, he will
perceive, (;") that Mofes, who was above a thoufand years,
older than any hiftorian we know of, (and upon that ac-
count deferves the greater credit), has fixed the beginning
of time at a proper period, about 2433 years before his
own birth ; has given us a fair and authentic hiftory of
the origin and formation of the world, of the creation
and introduction of the parents of all mankind, of the peo-
pling the earth with inhabitants, and of the firft inftitution.
of civil government ; that he has given us the earlieft ac-
count, not only of all ufeful callings and employments, fuch
as gardening, hulbandry, pafturage of cattle, ©r. but of
all the politer arts and fciences, fuch as poetry and mulic,
hiftory, geography, phyfic, anatomy, and philofophy of
all kinds. In a word, he will perceive, that the facred
Bible is not only a record of all the moft ancient learning,
but a magazine of all learning whatever ; and confequent-
ly, that he who defires to appear in the capacity of a f cho-
lar, either as a critic, a chronologer, an hiftorian, an o-
rator, a difputant, a lawyer, a ftatefman, a pleader, or :i
preacher, muft not be unacquainted with this inexhauftible
fund.
Another commendation of this moft excellent book, The Bible
is, that the language in which a grc.it part of it is written, wrotc ,n
was the firft and original language in the world; but then • " ,am
the queftion is, Which is the original ? The writers who language.
have handled this iubject, have produced the fevcral claims
of the Hebrew, the Chaldean, the Syrian, and the Arabian :
but as the arguments for the Syrian and Arabian are but
few and trilling, the chief competition fecms to he between,
the Hebrew and Chaldean.
Now it is natural to fuppofe, that a primitive language
ihould be plain and eafy ; fhould confift of fimple and iitt-
compounded founds ; of as few parts of ipeech, and as few
terminations in thofe parts as poffible. (/■) Moods and
(i) Edwards on the perfection of the Scriptures. (.(•) Sknck-
fqrd*s connection of facred and profane hiftory, vol. 1. lib. 2.
Vol. I. L tenfes,
kxxii The APPARATUS,
tenfes, numbers, and perfons in verbs, and the different
cafes in nouns, we may well imagine were the improve-
ments of art and ftudy, and not any firft efTay or origi-
nal production ; and in this refpect we cannot but con-
ceive, that vhe Hebrew tongue (I mean as it ftands in our
Bible, and not as the Rabbins have enlarged it) bids fair for
the precedency. Its radical words (which are (/) not ma-
ny) confift generally of three letters, or two fyllables at the
moft. Its nouns are not declined by different cafes, nor
are its numbers diftinguifhed by different terminations (as
the Latin or Greek are), but by (m) the addition of a
ihort fyllable in the dual and plural, which at the fame time
denominates the gender. The gender is likewife included
in the verb, which prevents the neceffity of having many
pronouns ; and by varying its conjugations, (which are fel-
doin irregular), it has the lefs ufe for auxiliary verbs. Add
to this, that the Hebrews ufe feldom any vowels in writing ;
have no compound nouns or verbs ; few prepofitions, few
adjectives, no comparatives or fuperlatives ; no great
number of conjugations ; but two moods, two tenfes ; no
gerunds, no lupines ; and of particles of all kinds far from
many ; and then we can hardly conceive a language more
ilmple and eafy, more Ihort and expreffive than theirs.
The pre-» Upon this account fome of late have imagined, that the
tenets of Chinefe might poffibly be the firft original language of man-
theChmeie kjncl : for befides that Noah very probably fettled in thefe
dee parts, its words are, even now, very rew, not above twelve
hundred ; its nouns are but three hundred and twenty-fix,
and all its words confeffedly monofyllables ; fo that what-
ever the original of this tongue was, it feems very likely to
have been the firft that was planted in the country : for
though it is natural to think, that mankind might begin to
form fingle founds at firft, and afterwards come to enlarge
their fpeech by doubling and redoubling them ; yet it is not
to be imagined, that if men had firft known the copiouf-
nefs of exprefiion arifing from words of more fyllables than
one, they would ever have reduced their language to its
primitive monofyllables. But fince we have not a fufficient
knowledge of this language to make a competent judgment
of it, we mull wave its pretentions for the prefent.
The Chaldee, it muft be owned, has a great many marks
of this original fimplicity in it : but then, what give the
(/) About five hundred- (*») Im is added to the plural in
nouns mafculine ; and oth in fuch as are feminine.
'Hebrew
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxxiii
Hebrew a farther claim to priority, are certain proper
names of perfons mentioned before the flood, fiich as
(n) Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth, &c. ; of ancient coun-
tries, fuch as (o) Lydia, Afiyria, <bc. ; of ancient Heathen
Gods, fuch as (p) Saturn, Jupitur, Belus, Vulcan, ' <bc. ;
of feveral kinds of animals, and mufical inftruments ; and
in fhort of mountains, rivers, cities, and places, which
derive their etymology, or right fignification, from this
tongue only ; as Bochart, with an immenfe deal of oriental
learning, has abundantly proved.
There are other learned men however, who being will- The He-
ing to compromife the matter between the two languages, brew and
(the Hebrew and Chaldee) are apt to fancy, (q) that if rj^f^ _
any one would be at the pains to examine them ltrictly, riginally
and to take from each what may reafonably be fuppofed to the fame,
be improvements made fince their original, he will lind the
Chaldee and Hebrew tongues to have been at firfr. the fame.
However that be, it is certain, that thofe who maintain the
perpetuity of the fame tongue from Adam to Mofes, do al-
fert, that before the confulion of Babel, there was but one
univerfal language among all the nations upon the earth ;
that this very language (even after the confulion) was con-
tinued in its purity, in the family of Seth and Heber, from
whom it had its name, and from whom Abraham, the fa-
ther of the faithful, defcended ; that Abraham, notwith-
standing his intercourfe with other nations, ftill preferved
this primitive tongue ; and his defcendents, notwithstand-
ing their fojourning in the land of Egypt, were under no
temptation to corrupt it, becaufe they lived feparately and
by themfelves in the land of Gofhen, until the miniftry of
Mofes. And if this be a true defcent of the tongue, then
we are fure, that the Pentateuch, and other books of the
Old Teftament, were all wrote (except fome portions after
the Babylonifh captivity) in the fame facred primaeval lan-
guage, which God himfelf fpake, which he taught our
firft parents, and wherein all the patriarchs, and worthies
of old among his chofen people, were known to converfe.
(») Thus the word Adam comes from the Hebrew Adamah,
which fignifies earth ; Eve, or Cheva, from Chiah, life ; Cain
from Canah, to fojfefs ; Abel fignifies vanity ; and Seth from
Skath to fubjlitute. {() Thus Lydia from Lud ; Affyr'w
from Affur. (/>) Thus Saturn from Satar, to hid one'jfef;
Jupiter from Jehova ; Belus from Baal ; and Vulcan from Tu-
tal-Cain. (q) Vid. Shuckford's connection, voj. i. lib. 2.
L 2 la
lxxxiv - The APPARATUS,
In a word, (r) the concifenefs, fimplicity, energy, and
fertility of the Hebrew tongue ; the relation it has to the
more ancient oriental languages, which feem to derive their
origin from it ; the etymology of the names whereby the
$rft ol- mankind were called, and the names of animals,
which are aliiignhicant in the Hebrew tongue, and defcribe-
the nature and property of thefe very animals ; characters
not to be found in any other language, and yet all meeting
together in this, do rail"; a prejudice very much in favour
of its primacy ; and this certainly is no lmall commendation
of the Bible, that it comprifes the compafs of a language
which is the molt ancient, and (as fome think) the moft
excellent in the world, and no where elfe to be found. If
any critics or grammarians could fay the like concerning
the Greek or Latin tongue, viz. that there is a certain book
wherein either of thefe, in its nrft purity, is wholly contain-
ed, they would be very lavilh in their encomiums of it, and
the preiation of it to ail other volumes whatever would not
want a proper difplay.
i?e »eat And indeed, whatever the merry fcoffers of this age,
fiic, \n to or the graver lovers of fin and lingularity may think, it is
the Bible, certain, that in former days men of all orders and degrees,
of the highefc flation in life, as well as capacity in know-
ledge, of polite parts, as well as folid judgments, and con-
verfant in ail human, as well as divine literature, have all
along held the Scriptures in lingular veneration ; have em-
ployed their wit and eloquence in letting forth their praife;
and not only thought their pens, but poetry itfelf, en-
nobled by the dignity of fuch a fubjecT:.
by perfom David, in his time, was a confidei-able prince, a mighty
pf the high- Warrior, and fubduer of the nations that were round him ;
u r "n "' and yet his living in a military way made him no defpiler
of the Scriptures: for obferve what a beautiful panegyric
lie has given us barely of that part which we call the Pen-
tateuch : (s) The law of the Lord is an undejiled lavj,
converting the foul ; the teftimony of the Lord is fitre, and
\givcth ivifdom unto the fmple ; the ftatutes of the Lord
are right, and rejoice the heart ; the commandment of the
Lord is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes ; the judgments
/ ihe Lord are true, and righteous altogether : moj-e to
be def red are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;
iter alfo than the honey and the honey comb. Moreo-
(r) Calmer's dictionary. (s) Pfal. xix. 7. &c,
ver.
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxxv
ver, by them is thy fervant taught, and in keeping of them
there is great reward,
Ptolomy Philadelphus was one of the greateft monarchs
in his age : he had large armies, line fleets, vail maga-
zines of warlike {lores, and (what was peculiar in his cha-
racter) he was a perfon of extenfive learning himfelf, a and the
generous encourager of all liberal fcicnces, and lb great a8reat?ft
collector of books, that in one library at Alexandria heandwif
had four hundred thouiand volumes ; and yet, as if he could
not be at eafe, nor think his collection compleat, without
the Bible (t), he fent for an authentic copy from Jerusalem,
and for a number of learned men to make a tranllation of
it in the Greek tongue, for which he plentifully rewarded
them : which puts me in mind of Mr Selden, one of the
greateft fcholavs and antiquaries of his age, and who, in
like manner, made valt amaflments of books and manu-
scripts from all parts of the world, (a library perhaps not to
be equalled, on all accounts, in the univerfe), as he was
holding a ferious conference with ArchbilhopUiher, a little
before he died, he profefled to him, that (u) notivithftand-
ing he had pojej/ed himfelf of fuch a vaji treafure of books and
manufcripts on all ancient fubj 'eels, yet he could reft his foul on
none but the Scriptures.
St. Paul was doubtlefs a good fcholar, as well as a good
Chriftian, and his knowledge in polite literature is diftin-
guifhable by the feveral citations which he makes of the an-
cient Heathen poets : and yet he is not afhamed to give us
this character of the Bible : (x) All fcripturc is given by
the infpiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for re-
proof, for corretlion, for injiruciwn in right eoufnefs, that the
rnan of God may be perfeel, thoroughly furnified unto all good
works. Which calls to my remembrance what (y) another
great man of our nation, in a letter to one of his Ions, de-
clares ; " I have been acquainted fomewhat (fays he) with
'* men and books : I have had long experience in learn-
" ing, and in the world : there is no book like the Bible
" for excellent learning, wifdom, and ule ; and it is want
*' of underftanding in them who think or fpeajt other-
" wife."
Longinus, the world muft own, was a competent
judge of all kind of eloquence. His little book on the
iubjecl, though impaired by the injury of time, has given us
(/) Fid. Pridcaux's connection, part 2. 1. 2. p. no. (//) In
his life. (.?) 2 Tim, iii. 16. (/) Judge Hale.
fpecimen
bcxxvi The APPARATUS,
fpecimen enough of his exquiflte tafte that way ; and yet,
though he was an Heathen, he giver honour where honour is
due, and feems to praife and admire the true fublime of Mo-
fes more than that of any other author he quotes.
Tertullian (if we will think no worfe of him for being
one of the fathers of the church) was an excellent ora-
tor, a great philologift, and an acute reafoner ; and yet
we find him (z) adoring the plenitude of the Scripture. The
noble Picus Mirandula was the beft linguift and fcholar of
his age ; and yet, after he had run through innumerable
volumes, " he refted in the Bible, (as he tells us), as the only
" book wherein he had found out the true eloquence and
" wifdom." And therefore is was no wild rant, but a fen-
tence proceeding from mature judgment, that of Robert, king
of Sicily, to Fran. Petrarcha : " I tell thee, my Petrarcha,
" thofe holy letters are dearer to me than my kingdom ;
" and, were I under neceffity of quitting one, it fhould
" be my diadem."
We need lefs wonder then, that we find our profound
logician, Mr Locke, declaring, that (a) " the little fatif-
" faction and confiftency he found in moft of the fyftems
** of divinity, made him betake himfelf to the fole reading
" of the Scripture, which he thought worthy of a diligent
" and unbiafTed fearch :" That we find our religious philo-
fopher, Mr.^Boyle, (as well as the learned Grotius) afiert-
ing the propriety and elegance of the facred ftyle ; and our
incomparable Newton (b) giving the preference to Scripture
u chronology, above that of the Egyptians, Gi*eeks, Chaldeans,
or any other nation whatever : That we find, I fay, fome
perfons of the moft fparkling wit and fancy difcanting ei-
ther on the facred hiftory of the Bible, or on fome divine
Uiatters contained in it ; a Milton taking the whole plan,
and a great part of the very diction of his lofty poem
thence ; a Cowley, embellifhing the ftory of King David ;
a Buchanan, rendering his pfalms in Latin verfe, and in
Englifh ; a Prior, paraphrafing on the Ecclefiaftes of hisfon.
Which manifeftly fhews, that fome of the greateft perfona-
ges in the world, the moft noble and refined wits, the
moft knowing and judicious heads, have bore the greateft
efteem for the Holy Scriptures, and not thought their leai-n-
ing or ingenuity mifemployed in their fervice. And this
will give us occaiion to inquire a little into fome of the prin-
cipal verfions and expofitions that have been made of them.
(z) Lib. adver. Hermogenem. (a) Jenkim's Preface to
his Renfonablenefs of Chrimanity. (b) Vid. his Chronology
of ancient kingdoms amended, paflim.
Now
or Preparatory Discourse. lxxx'vii
Now the (c) firft and principal verfion we have of the The. Wfc
Holy Scriptures, is that which we call the Septuagint, from v^q^
the 70, or 72 interpreters, which Ptolemy Philadelphia (as
we laid before) employed in the work. For about the
year of the world 3727, he being very intent on making a
great library at Alexandria, committed the care of that
matter to Demetrius Phalerius, a nobleman of Athens, and
who at that time was his librarian. Demetrius, pur-
fuant to the King's order, made diligent fearch every
where ; and being informed, that among the Jews there
was a book of great note, called The Law of Mofes, he ac-
quainted the King with it ; hereupon the King fent to Elea-
zar, the high prieft, requefting him to fend an authentic
copy thereof, and (becaufe he was ignorant of the Hebrew
tongue) to fend withal fome men of fufficient capacity to
tranilate it into Greek. The meflengers who went upon
this errand, and carried with them many rich prefents for
the temple, when they came to Jerufalem, were received
with great honour and refpect, both by the high-prieft and
all the people ; and having received a copy of The Law of
Mofes, and fix elders out of each tribe (/. e. feventy-two
in all) to tranflate it, returned to Alexandria. Upon their
arrival, the elders, by the King's appointment, betook
themfelvesto the work, and hrft tranflated the Pentateuch,
and (not long after) the reft of the OldTeftament, intoGreek.
This is the fubftance of Arifteas's hiftory ; but herein he
has intermixed fo many ftrange and incredible things, that
{d) many learned men have been inclined to think the whole
of
(f) The other Greek tranflations by Aquila, Symmachus, and
Theodocian, arc now loft, except only lome fragtiw ntb of them
which (lill remain.
{d) Vid. Du Pin's hiftory of the canon, ire. F Simon's cri-
tical hiftory of the Old Teftament ; Dr Hoddy De Bibliorum
textibus original thus ; Dr Pridcaux's connection of the Old
and New Tcflament, ire. : and the reafons they give for iheir
fuppofmg the whole to be a fiction, are fuch as thefe. J. That
Arifteas, who pretends to he an Heathen Greek, fpeaks all along
as a Jew, and (what is more) makes all the parties concerned
fpeak in the lame manner. 2. That by the ftventy-two el-
ders fent for from Alexandria to Jerufahm, it looks like a
Jewilh invention, framed with n-fptct to their Sanhedrim, which
confiftcd of that number 3. That the difufe of ihe Hebrew
tongue, and the little acquaintance the Jews had with the Greek,
make it iacrcdible that there mould be found fix men in each
tribe
Ixxxviii The APPARATUS,
of it a mere fiction, contrived by the Helleniftical Jews of
Alexandria, on purpofe to give the more Sanction and au-
thority to this translation, whofe true original they relate
to be thus. Upon the building of Alexandria, and en-
couragement given to other nations (as well as Greeks and
Macedonians) to come and inhabit it, great multitudes of
Jews reforted thither. In procefs of time, they made a
conllderable part of the city ; and by degrees fo accuftomed
themfelves to fpeak the Greek language, that they forgot
their own ; and were thereupon obliged to have the Scrip-
tures tranflated into Greek, both for their private ufe and
public fervice. It was the cuftom at that time to read
the Pentateuch only in the fynagogues ; and therefore this
was the Sirft part of the Scriptures which they translated.
In the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, the prophets were in-
troduced, and then they were under a neceSIity of transla-
ting them likewife ; (e) and in a Short time after, fome private
men might turn the reft of the books (which they call the
Hagiographa) into the Greek language} and thus the whole
veriion, which, from the fable of Arifteas, goes under the
name of the Septnagint, came to be compleated. However
this be, it is certain that this translation, as foon as it was
finished, was held in efteem and veneration, almoft equal
tribe capable of this performance. 4. That the questions which
Ptolemy pat to the interpreters, and the anfwers which they re-
turned him, carry with them an air of hcuon. 5. That the
letters of gold, in which the law was written, the iiland Pha-
ros, and the cells appointed for the interpreters, their marvel-
lous agreement in every point, and their wonderful difpatch in
finilhiug the whole in feventy-two days, are much of-the lame
caSt. And 6. That the prodigious fum which Ptoiemy is faid
to advance, in order to procure this veriion, in money, in plate,
in precious Stones, and prefents, ire. to the amount of ibout
two millions Sterling, together with many more absurdities and
contradictions occurring in the history, is enough to prove it
an idle Story and romance, without any other foundation, ex-
cept, that in the reign of Ptoiemy I'hiiadelphus, Such a verfion of
the law of Mofes into the Greek language was made by the Jews
of Alexandria ; Prideaux's connection, part 2. 1. t-
(e) That this tranflation was made at different times, and by
different perfons, the various Styles in which the Several books
are found written, the many ways in which the fame Hebrew
words, and the fame Hebrew things are translated, in different
places, and the greater accuracy to be' obferved in the transla-
tion of fome books than of others, are a full demonstration ;
Prideaux, ib.
to
or Preparatory Discourse. Ixxxix
to the original, and was not only ufed by the Jews in their
difperSion through the Grecian cities, but approved by the
Grand Sanhedrim at Jerufaiem, and always quoted and re-
ferred to by our Saviour and his apoftles, whenever they
made an appeal to the Holy Scriptures.
It is true indeed, (and what every common reader may Thc r«-
obferve), that there is frequently amanifefl difference be- ?-^ ?f(rlts
tween this verSion and the Hebrew text : but the difference fr0m the
may well enough be accounted for, if we will but allow, Hebrew
that the vowels or points in the Hebrew tongue might text?
poffibly then not be in ufe ; that the lame words in Hebrew
are known to have different {ignifications, which may give
the translation a fenfe different from the original ; that
the tranflators themfelves fometimes take a greater lati-
tude, and render a paffage not literally, but paraphra-
ftically ; that at other times they infert a word or two by
way of explanation, which are not directly in the text,
and perhaps now and then omit a word in the original,
which they thought was fufficiently fupplied by the em-
phafis of their Greek expreffion. Thefe conliderations,
together with the known ignorance and negligence of tran-
fcribers, will account for the difference, if not for the
errors and mistakes which occur in the translation. For
that the tranflators themfelves did wilfully miiinterpret the
Hebrew text, is a notion that cannot, with any juff ice, be
admitted, confidering that they had no manner of temp-
tation fo to do. I Should rather think, that if there Should
be any dangerous corruptions in the Greek copies, (f)
they were made after the coming of our Saviour, and when
the Jews had utterly rejected him as an impoftor ; that the
JewiSh doctors having got together a fufficient number of
thefe copies, might make in them (what they could not
fo well do in the Hebrew text) fuch alterations as they
thought pi'oper, in order to juftify their infidelity ; and that
in all probability they did then curtail forne prophecies (gj
(f) Mr Whifton, in his Literal accomplifiimcnt of Scripture
prophecy, and Collection of authentic records belonging to the Old
and New TeStament, has abundantly (hewn, that Several texts
have been altered, and prophecies dillocated by the Jews in the
Old TeStament. (g) Thus Dr Lightfoot obferves, tint in
Ifa. ix. 6. inStead of thefe five names of (hri it, IVo?;deiful,Coun-
felior, the mighty Cod, the evcrlajling Father, the Prince of Peace,
there is only iinerteti, the Angel of the great C';:;?ife!\ in Proem.
J'ipcr Quxjl in Cat.
Vol. I. M (as
xc The APPARATUS,
(as we fiad they are curtailed in the Greek verfion) relating
to the divinity of the Meffias ; and having changed the
chronology of the LXX, by adding 1400 years to the ac-
count, cunningly difperfed them among the long lives of
the antediluvian patriarchs, in order to make it believed,
that Jems of Nazareth, whom they crucified, was not the
true Meffias, but that the time of his appearance was paffed
and gone (as tome of them Hill affert) a long tract of
years before the Chriftian rera.
and how The remit then of all this is that we ought to -have
^e ought to thatref ■ a andefteem for the LxX's verfion which it
tcceive it. . r ._.... r n r •
dderves ; not wholly reject it, becaule molt or its errors
and faults proceed from the mere miftaking of vowels ;
from the ambiguity of words ; from the liberty which
the tranilators took of paraphraiing ; and from the ne-
glect of transcribers : but on the other hand, not wholly
embrace it, but rather read it with candour and caution ;
with caution, becaufe it has fallen into ill hands, and has
met with fome defigning men, who have done their utmoft
to corrupt it : and with candour, becaufe it is the oldeft
Greek tranflation of the Bible ; has been made ufe of by
the facred penmen of the New Teftament ; is conducible
to our better underftanding the fenfe of the Hebrew ; and
as to its difagreement therewith, may, in a great meafure,
admit of a reconciliation,
the Cful- Of all the tranflations which are in the oriental lan-
br fef^" Slia§es' (^) t^ie Chaldee is of the greateft efteem and repu-
and why tation among the learned. It is called, by way of emi-
nude. nence, the Targurti : for as the word tar gum in Chaldee
Signifies in general an interpretation, or verfion of one
language into another ; fo by the Jews it is appropriated to
thofe paraphrafes which go under the names of Onkehs, Jo-
nathan, Jofeph, 6r. The ufs of thefe tar'gums was to
inltruc~t the vulgar Jews, after their return from the Ba-
bylonllh captivity : for (/) though many of the better fort
retained the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue during that
captivity, jmd taught it their children; and the Holy Scrip-
tures, which were' delivered after that time (excepting only
fome parts of Daniel and Ezra, and one veife in Jere-
(h) Befides this, there are other oriental verfions, viz the
Syriac, which is looked upon as genuine and faithful ; the Arabic,.
which is neither of any great antiquity or audiority ; and feveral
others. (/) Vid. Prideanx's Connection, and Edwards on the
Excellence of Scripture.
miah )
or Preparatory Discoursf. xci
miah) were all written therein ; yet the common people,
by having fo long converfed with the Babylonians, learned
their language, and forgot their own : and therefore, that
they might have the Bible in a language which they under -
ftood, there were fcveral targums, at feveral times, made
by different perfons, and on different parts of Scripture.
The targum of Onkelos, becaufe it comes up neareft to That of
the flandard of the Chaldee, (which is only perfect in the Onkelos,
books of Daniel and Ezra), is thought by iome the moft
ancient ; but others give the preference, in point of anti-
quity, to that of Jonathan, whom they place about thirty
years before Chrift, under the reign of Herod the Great.
Its author is reputed to have lived much about our Saviour's
time ; and as he undertook to translate the Pentateuch on-
ly, fo has he rendered it word for word, and, for the moft
part, very accurately and exactly.
That of Jonathan, fon of Uzziel, which takes in the jcnathan,
books of Jofhun, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Ifaiah, Jere-
miah, Ezekiel, and the minor prophets, has the like purity
of ftyle ; but then it is quite different in the manner of its
compofure : for, inftead of being a ftrid"t verficn, it is in
many places very lax and paraphraftical, and, especially
in the prophets, full of fuch comments, gloiTes, and alle-
gories, as do not at all commend the work.
That which goes under the name of Jofcph, furnamedar.djofcph;
The Blind, comprehends the other parts of Scripture called
the Hagicgrapha; fuch as the book of Pfalms, of Job,
Either, Proverbs, <bc; but this, and the reft of the targums,
are fo barbarous in their ftyle, fo full of miftakes, and fo
loaded with fables, that (k) they feem to be the cempefi-
tions of fome later Talmudifts, rather than of any ancient
paraphraft. To mention but one more, that of Jerusalem
is only upon the Pentateuch, and (/) yet it is far from be-
ing perfect : for in it whole verfes are frequently wanting ;
fome are tranfpofed, and others mutilated, which has
made many of opinion, that it is no more than a fragment
of fome ancient paraphrafe which is now loft.
The truth is, the only writings of this kind wfuchjanciofwn;*
the Jews have reafon to value themfelves upon, are thofeufe they
of Onkelos and Jonathan, and with thefe they are fo infa-are'
tuated, that they hold them to be of the fame authority with
the lacred text ; and, for the fupport of this opinion, pre-
(k) Vid. Piideanx's Connect, part 2. lib. 8. p. 771.
(/) Vid. Calmct's Dictionary on the word Terguiu.
M \ tend
xcii The APPARATUS,
tend to derive them from the fame fountain. For they fay,
" That when God delivered the written law to Mofes upon
" Mount Sinai, he delivered with it, at the fame time, the
^Chaldee paraphrafe of Onkelos; and that, when by his
" Holy Spirit he dictated to the prophets the Scriptures of
" the prophetical books, he delivered feverally to them the
I" targum of Jonathan upon each book at the fame time ;
" and that both thefe targums were delivered down by tra-
" dirion through fiich faithful hands as God, by his provi-
" dence, had appointed ; the nrft from Mofes, and the o-
" ther from the prophets themfelves ; till at laft, through
" this chain of traditional defcent, they came down to the
" hands of Onkelos and Jonathan, who did nothing more
"to them than only put them into writing."
How romantic foever this account may be, yet we are
not to run into a contrary extreme, and think that thefe
paraphrafes are of no iignificance to us ; fince it is obvious,
that they cannot fail of explaining many words and phrafes
in the Hebrew original, which will conduce to our better
under ftanding of thofe fcriptures on which they are wrote ;
and to hand down to us many of the cuftoms and ufages
of the Jews in vogue in our Saviour's days, and thereby help
us to illuftrate many obfcure paffages which occur in the
New Teftament, as well as the Old.
Of the in- The Latin tranflations of the Bible, (#») even in St.
dent Latin Auflin's time, were alrnoft innumerable ; but thefe were
traiillatKm "^ ITiacte from the Septuagint, and not from the Hebrew,
'until St. Jerom (who was well verfed in that language) ob-
serving the errors of the many Latin tranflations, and
their frequent difagreement with the original, undertook
a new one ; and with great care and exactnefs translated
from the Hebrew all the Old Teftament, except the Pfalms,
which being fung in the church in the old Latin or Italian
verfion," could not be changed without giving the people
fome offence. St. Jerom's tranflation, however, was not
fo univerfaily received, but that fome bifhops (who were
not fo well acquainted with the Hebrew) abiblutely reject-
ed it ; whilft others, Avho were better judges, and faw its
conformity to the original, readily embraced it. During
the time of this divifion, both tranflations were read in
public, i. e. fome books in St. Jerom's verfion, and fome
[m) [Qui enim Scripturas ex Hebraea lingua in Grsecam verie-
ruiir, nnmerari poffimt ; Latini autem inierpretes nullo modo ;
jlyj. Be doc}. CfrriJlL lib. 2. c«j>. II.
or Preparatory Discourse. xciii
in the Italian, till at length another, which was compofed
of both, and is called by the Romanifts, Vetus et vulgata,
was thought more correct than either, and accordingly
gained the afcendant.
The Romanifts would make us believe, that this tranf-<l.nd.the
laticn, which they fo highly extol, is the very fame with of"^^0'
St Jerom's ; and that whatever variations may be per- manifb
ceived in it, they were occaiioned by the force of time, thereupon
and the negligence of tranfcribers. However this be, it
cannot be denied, but that it has feveral confiderable faults ;
that it leaves the original very often, and fometimes runs
contrary to it ; that it frequently follows the Septuagint, or
the Chaldee paraphrafe; that it abounds with barbarous
words ; with many places where its fenfe is corrupted,
and in fome quite loft : and yet (;z) the Council of Trent
thought fit to ordain and declare, " That the fame ancient
" and vulgar verfion, which has been approved of, and
" ufed in the church for many ages paft, fhall be confi-
" dered as the authentic verfion in all public lectures,
•" difputes, fermons, and expofitions, which no body
" fhall prefume to reject, under what pretence foever."
A decree, which (o) the authors of that communion are
forced to apologize for, by faying, that the Council did not
intend thereby to reftrain interpreters from consulting the
Hebrew, and upon all occafions from rectifying that very
tranflation by the original text ; did not intend to com-
pare that tranflation with the originals, either Hebrew or
Greek, but only with the other tranflations that were then
extant ; did not intend to pronounce it abfolutely perfect,
and free from all errors, but only preferable to any other,
and proper enough to be declared authentic, if it was but
morally confonant to its original.
Rut whatever the merit or authority of this tranfla- Of modem
tion formerly was, not long after the year 1500, there .Latm "ani
arofe feveral learned men, well Ikilled in languages, who a
feeing the corruptions that were in this, as well as other
Latin verfions, and comparing them with the originals,
endeavoured to correct them from thefe fountains. In the
Roman communion, thofe of the beft note, were Ximenius,
archbifhop of Toledo, who gav£ us the firft polyglot Bible ;
Sanct. Pagninus, a Dominican monk, who, in his tranf-
lation, is a rigid obferver of the original text, but fome-
(«) Sefl". 4. (0) Du Pin on the canon, and Father Simon's
Critical hiflory. *
what
*civ The APPARATUS,
what obfcure ; Malvenda, another Dominican, who is
grammatical enough, but both obfcure and barbarous ;
Cardinal Cajetan, who is literal, without obfcurity ; the re-;
nowned Erafmus, whofe verlion of the New Teftament, in
all refpedls, is juftly commended ; and of the Reformed
religion, the moft remarkable, are Sebaftian Munfter, a
German, who renders the Hebrew text very clofely and
exactly ; Leo Juda, a Zuinglian, who indulges a kind of
paraphrafe, to make the fenfe more obvious ; Caftalio,
who wrote in a neat and eiegant, but, as fome think, too
florid and affected a ftyle •, Theodore Beza, who has trans-
lated the New Teftament with good fuccefs ; and Junius
and Tremellius, who, with a true and natural fimplicity,
did both of them jointly tranflate the Old Teftament out of
the Hebrew, and Tremellius alone, the New Teftament
out of the Syriac.
and their Thefe are moft of the later verfions of the Bible which,
*^e- more or lefs, have amended the faults of the vulgar Latin,
and brought us nearer to the original. Upon the whole,
therefore, we may conclude, that thefe feveral learned
tranflators are all of them, in their kinds, veiy ufeful ;
ibme, by keeping clofe to the original, and others, by u-
iing a latitude. In the main, they have prefented us (tho'
in a different ftyle and manner) with the time and genuine
meaning of the text : " But wherefoever the Latin tranfla-
" tors.difagree," (fays a great man (p) of the Roman com-
munion, and himfelf an able tranflator), " or a reading is
'* thought to be corrupted, we muft repair to the original,
" in which the Scriptures were wrote : fo that the truth
" and fincerity of the tranflators of the Old Teftament
" muft be examined by the Hebrew copies ; and of the
" New, by the Greek ones."
Th- En(r. As foon as the refoi-mation began to appear in England,
lifii tranfla- feveral editions of the Old and New Teftament were pu-
£ion*. blifhed in our tongue. In the year I 527, Tindal tranflated
the Pentateuch and the New Teftament, and afterwards,
both he and Coverdale jojned in the work, and finifhed the
tranflation of the whole Bible ; which being revifed by
Matthews, about ten years after, was reprinted. But it
had not long been reprinted*, before Henry VIII. forbad
the fale of that, and every other Englifh. tranflation ; and
at the fame time, ordered Tunftal, bifhop of Durham,
and Heath, bifhop of Rochefter, to make a new one,
which was publifhed in the year 1 541 : when, being difplea-
(/) Cardinal Ximenius in his preface to Pope Leo.
fed
or Preparatory Discourse. xcv
fed with that likewife, he forbad all Englifh translations
whatever; fo that, during his reign, no one was permitted
to read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, without a pro-
per licenfe. In the reign of Edward VI. the editions of
Tindal and Tunftal were revived : but as the life of that
prince was but fhort, upon Queen Mary's fucceflion to
the throne, a violent perfecution arofe, and all Englifh
tranflations (as being done by Proteftants, and thought in-
jurious to the Roman caufe) were utterly fupprefled. Du-
ring this reign, fbrrie Calvinifts, who had fled for fhelter to
Geneva, made a new Englilh tranflation of the Bible, ac-
cording to the Geneva form, which was published in that
city as loon as fmifhed, but not in London until the year
1598. Manypaflages in this verfion were made to favour
the Prefbyterian caufe ; and therefore thofe of the Epifco-
pal party, in the beginning of Queen Elifabeth's reign,
endeavoured to get it fupprefled : but not being able to ac-
complish their defign, Archbilhop Parker, in conjunction
with feveral other bifliops, made another tranflation in
oppofition to it. This is ufually called the Bi/bops Bible^
or tranjlation. It was made according to the Hebrew of
the Old, and the Greek of the New Teftament ; but be-
eaufe, in many places, it receded from the Hebrew origi-
nal, to come nearer to the Septuagint, it was not fo well ap-
proved by King James I. ; and therefore he ordered a new
one to be made, which might be more conformable to the
Hebrew text.
This is the tranflation which we read in our churches The tranf-
at this day ; only the old verfion of the Pfalms (as it is lation in
called) which was made by Bifhop Tunftal, is ftill retained P^nCufe-
in our public liturgy : and though it cannot be denied, that
this tranflation, efpecially taking along with it the margi-
nal notes, (which are oftentimes of great fervice to explain
difficult paflages), is one of the moft perfect in its kind;
yet I hope it will be no detraction to its merit, nor any di-
minution of the authority of the Holy Scriptures, to wifh,
that fuch as are invefted with a proper authority, would
appoint a regular revifal of it, that where it is faulty, it
may be amended ; where difficult, rendered more plain ;
where obfcure, cleared up ; and, in all points, made as
obvious as poffible to the apprehenfion of the meaneft
reader.
The learned indeed may better difpenfe with a lefs per- Rules for :a
feet verfion. They know that there are faults in fome tei£r"1"*
copies, which muft be reified ; fometimes a tranfpofltlon
of
xcvi The APPARATUS,
of terms, which muft be replaced in their proper order ;
and many times various readings, fome of which, for fe-
veral reafons, are to be preferred before others. They
know that there is a literal fenfe and a figurative, which
muft not be confounded ; fome proportions, which feem
negative, and yet are to be taken interrogatively or affirma-
tively ; and fome parenthefes, which darken the fenfe, un-
lefs they are more diftinctly marked, than they commonly
are in moft tranflations. They know, that the different
pointing of the fame Hebrew words gives them quite dif-
ferent fenfes ; that the fignification of the Hebrew verb
changes according to its conjugation ; that there are certain
alluiions to fuch cuftoms and ufages as explain many dif-
ficulties ; and feveral ways of fpeaking among the Jews,
and other eaftern nations, which muft be adjufted to our
ideas. They know, that there are general expreffions,
which muft be reftrained to the particular fubjecl in hand,
and that the different circumftances of the fubjecl, the con-
nection with what goes before and after, and defign of the
author, muft often determine the meaning.
Thede- Thefe, and many more rules of interpretation, are
fecffrofournot unknown to the learned: but the common people,
prefent who are no lefs concerned to know the will of God, are
tramlation. entii*ely ignorant in this refpect ; and therefore, if a ver-
fion be defective in feveral of thefe particulars, (as thofe
who have examined ours with obfervation, are forced to
acknowledge that it is), if, when the original is figurative,
our tranflators, in feveral places, have expreffed it in a
way not accommodated to our prefent notions of things,
when they might have done it with the fame propriety : if,
when there is an ambiguity in any word or phrafe, they
have frequently taken it in a wrong fenfe ; and for want of
attending to the tranfpofition or context, have run into
fome errors, and many times unintelligible diction : if
they have committed palpable miftakes in the names of ci-
ties and countries, of weights and meafures, of fruits and
trees, and feveral of the animals which the Scripture men-
tions : and, laftly, if, by mifapprehending the nature of a
propofition, whether it be negative or affirmative, or the
tenfe of a verb, whether paft or future, they have fallen
upon a fenfe, in a manner, quite oppofite to the original ;
and, by not attending to fome oriental cuftoms, or forms
of fpeech, have reprefented matters in a drefs quite foreign
to the Englifh dialed!: : if in thefe, and fuch like inftances,
I fay, our tranflators have made fuch miftakes, the people,
who
or Preparatory Discourse. xcv\\
who know not how to rectify them, muft be mined; and
therefore, to prevent the danger of this, we will inftance a
little in one or two of the moft obvious of them.
Few or none, I hope, are fo grofsly ignorant, as to
think that God has a body like unto ours, though the
Scripture attributes eyes, hands, mouth, bowels, &c. to
him ; but yet, fince people are ready to receive wrong no-
tions by thefe, and iuch like figurative expreffions, and
fince our language has words in abundance whereby to
exprefs them in a proper fenfe, it feems more reafonable,
that when the original fpeaks of God's hand, it fhould
be tranflated God's power ; his eyes, his care and provi-
dence ; his mouth, his order and commandments ; his bowels t
his moft tender companions, &c.
The Scriptures, we may obferve, frequently call cities,
kingdoms, and their inhabitants, by the fame names with
their kings or founders : but certainly a verfion (if it is
defigned to be underftood) Ihould diftinguifh them exactly.
Thus, the name of Afhcr, when it fignifies the fon of
Shem, fhould be kept in the tranflation ; but when it iigni-
fies his country, it Ihould be rendered Affyria ; and when
the inhabitants of the countiy, it fhould be tranflated Af-
fyrians : but this rule of diftinction our interpreters, to
the great confufion of the reader, have not obferved.
Prodigals divert themfelves much with that quaint ad-
vice of Solomon, (as they call it), {q) Cajl thy bread upon
the waters, and thou Jhalt find it after many -days : but
would they only obferve, that the Hebrew word Lechem
not only fignifies bread, but likewife wheat, whereof it is
made ; and that the word majim not only denotes waters,
but alfo ground that is moijl, or lies near the waters ; they
might eafily perceive, that the fenfe of the text is,
Throw thy grain into moijl ground, and, in procefs of time,
thou Jha/t find it again.
The profane do likewffe abufe another wholefome pre-
cept of Solomon, (r) Be not righteous over much, neither
make thyfelf over wife, as if a man can be too righteous,
or too wife : whereas, would they but confider, that So-
lomon is here fpeaking of that juftice which a man is to
exercife towards others, (as the context plainly fhews), they
could not but perceive the propriety of this interpretation ;
— Do not exercife juftice too rigoroufly, neither fet tip for a
man of too great wifdom.
(q) Ecclcf. xi. t. (>-) Chnp. vii. 16.
Vol. I. N Some
xcviii The APPARATUS,
Some parents are fo very fevere and cruel to their chil-
dren, as to obferve no bounds in their correcting them ;
and they may polubly ground their feverity upon this text,
(s) Chaften thy fon while there is hope, and let not thy foul
/pare for his crying; but had they any tolerable Skill in the
Hebrew tongue, they would foon fee, that the latter part
of the verfe lhould be thus rendered ; But fitffer not thy-
felf to be iranfj.ortedfo, as to caufe him to die.
It is a Strange kind of bleffing that which God gives
to the tribe of Afoer, as our translators have ordered it ;
{f) Thy /hoes fhall be iron and brafs, and as thy days, fo
Jhall thy Jlrengih be; but had they confidered, that the
Hebrew word mineal never Signifies a Jhoe in Scripture,
but only a bolt or bar ; and that the word which they
render ftrength, equally denotes peace or reft ; they Avould
have made better fenfe of • the bleffing thus: Thy bolts
Jhall be of iron and brafs, and thou Jhalt have peace in thy
' days.
It is a text of much obfeurity, and hardly confident
with decency, to fay, (w) Moab is my wafh-pot, over Edom
will I caft out my Jhoe, Philiftia be thou glad of me : but
now, (x) confidering that the word which is rendered
waftj-pot, is employed to expreSs the loweft degree of
Servitude ; and what is rendered a fhoe, Signifies often a
chain, and fo implies a Slate of flavery and bondage ;
there is a Spirit and dignity in the words thus rendered,- —
I will reduce the Moabites to the vileft fervitude, I will alfo
triumph over the Edomites, and make them my Jlaves, and
the PhiliftinesfJ.mll add to my triumph.
To name but one more, it would feem, at this day,
not very decent, to fee a man go naked; and especially if
he pretended to a divine miflion, moffc fober people would
Conclude him lunatic : and therefore when ISaiah is faid
to have (y) walked three years naked and barefoot, for a
f'.gr. and a wonder upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia, we
muSt either fuppofe that this was (z) only a&ed in vifion,
(as feveral other things recorded of the prophets were), or
that all the while he went only without his upper garment,
(enough to denominate him naked), but wore his other
deaths as v.iual ; " Forfar be it from God (fays (a) Mai-.
♦' monides) to make his prophets ridiculous, or toprefcribe
(j) Prov. xix. 1 8. (/) Dent, xxxiii. 23;. (u) Pfal. lx. 8.
(x) Eilay for a new tranflaiion. (y) Ifa. xx. 3. (z) Vid.
ggtfth's feket didourfes. (a) More Ney. part 2. chap. 46.
" them
or Preparatory Discourse. xcijs
'■' them fuch anions, as muft of courfe denote them foois
" and madmen."
Thefe are fome of the places wherein our tranflators How to
have been manifeftly faulty ; and I mention it again, thatma^ea"rew
I have produced thefe, not with any finifter defign, but translation*
purely to clear the facred oracles from a ccnfure which
the negligence of their interpreters may have poflibly ■
brought upon them ; and to fhew the world, that the call
for a new, at leaft a more perfecl: tranflation, is neither
groundlefs nor unreafonable : but then, the queftion is,
how muft this project be put in execution ? or, who is the
perfon fufficient for fuch a work ? My reply to thofe who
make this inquiry, muft be in the fenfe of fuch, (b) as
have made it the fubject of their moft mature deliberation,
and have thereupon thought, that a new Engliih veriion
might be compofed out of our laft edition, if improved
with fuch alterations and amendments, as might make the
ftyle and fenfe, in many places, more accurate, and ac-
commodate the whole to the tafte of the moft curious
reader : but then they aflert, that the perfon who is to at-
tempt this, or another tranflation perfectly new, muft have
a competent knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek tongues,
and be daily converfant in reading the Scriptures, in order.
to make their phrafe and ftyle, and manner of arguing,
familiar to him : muft be fufHciently acquainted with the
Jewifh, and other oriental rites and cuftoms, their man-
ners and fchemes of diction, to which pafTages, almoft
in every page, do allude : muft be fufliciently ikilled in
hiftory, chronology, geography, 6r. ; in the proportion
of weights andmeaiures ; in the names of plants and ani-
mals ; and indeed of all arts and fciences, either exprefled
or referred to in the Scriptures : nruft be well verfed in
critical learning, in the beft commentators, both ancient
and modern ; and efpecially in fuch writers as have given
us rules and directions preparatory to their right interpre-
tation : that, being thus qoalifled, he muft take abundant
care to have the text of the Bible (from whence he trans-
lates) duly eftablifhed, by an exact collation of it with di-
vers ancient copies, and ancient tranflations made from the
original language : that he muft be a perfect mafter of the
(£) Vid. Father Simon's critical hiftory, I. 3. ; Du Pin's hi-
ftory of the canon, 1. i.e. 10. ; Diflert. De S. Script, interpret.
per D. Whitby ; An effay for a new tranflation of the Bible ;
and Edward's excellency of the Holy Scripture.
N 2 purity
c The A P P A R A T U S,
purity and elegance, the ftrength and whole compafs of"
the language, whereinto he tranflates, (becaufe, in the
courfe of the work, he will have frequent occafion to
try it all) : that, in the main, he muft keep clofe to the
original text ; but when the terms of the, two languages
arc found incompatible, muft confider the fenfe rather
than the words of the original, if he would either do that
or his own tranllation juftice : that he muft decline making
ufe of Hebrew, or other exotic words, which, in a tranl-
lation designed for common ufe, muft needs be improper,
as well as barbarous and unintelligible : muft modernize a
little (to make them more familiar) thofe words and forms
of fpeech, which allude to ancient nations and cuftoms ;
and (as fome would have it) reduce the old geography, as
well as weights and meafures, and computations of all
kinds, to the names and ftandards that are now in ufe :
that when any equivocal word or phrafe occurs, he muft
examine every fenfe, wherein it may be taken, and make
choice of that which is moft confonant to the author's
defign, and agrees beft with the preceding and following
difcourfe : ihat when any dark paffage prefents itfelf, he
muft ccnfu!t thofe of the like import that are plainer ; or
(if none fuch there be) advife with the beft commentators,
and ib determine ; laying down this for a certain rule, that
whenever a Scripture feems to exprefs any thing contrary to
right reafon, it muft admit of another meaning : and
therefore, laftly, he muft attend diligently to the different
fenfes of Scripture, figurative and literal; watch narrow-
ly when tranfpofitions of words or phrafes occur ; when
parenthefes are wanting or redundant ; and in what manner
each chapter and verfe is divided; becaufe, upon a wrong
difpofition of thefe, much oblcurity is known oftentimes
to arife.
The divi- '-^ie divifion of the Pentateuch into feclions was of fo
fion dfthe early a date, that the ancient Jews accounted it one of thole
Scriptures conftitutions which Mofes received from God on Mount
[fons chap- ^mA1- The whole was divided into 54 fections, according
teis, and to the number of their Sabbaths in a year ; and on each
rerfes. Sabbath day, a different fection was read, until the whole
number was concluded. After the Babylonifh captivity,
(c) the common people had almoft forgot their mother-
tongue, and were therefore forced to have the Scriptures,
when read to them on the Sabbath day, interpreted in Chal-
dce : and that the reader and interpreter might, keep their
(>■ ) Vid. Prideaux's connect, part. 1 . 1. 5.
proper
or Preparatory Discourse. ci
proper periods, every paufe was marked with two great
points, which the Jews called foph pafuck, i. e. the end
of the verfe. In this manner the Jews divided their Scrip-
tures into fedtions and verfes ; but the divifion of them in-
to chapters, and numerical verfes (as we have them now)
is of a much later date.
Hugo de Sancto Caro, (commonly called Hugo Car-
dinalis), about the year 1 240, being minded to write a com-
mentary upon the Old Teftament, found it neceffary for
his defign, to invent a concordance ; and to make the con-
cordance more ufeful, he divided the books into fhorter
fections, than were in the Hebrew Bible ; and thefe fedtions
into fubdivifions, the better to make his references. Thefe
fections are the chapters into which the Bible has ever fince
been divided ; but the fubdiviiions were not marked by
figures, (as are the verfes with us), but by the capital let-
ters, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, placed on the margin, in
equal diftances from each other. In this ftate the Scrip-
tures continued, till about the year 1438, Rabbi Nathan,
being in like manner to make a concordance in Hebrew,
imitated Hugo in the divifion of the fcriptural books into
chapters ; but inftead of his capital letters, he took the
old way of periods or verfes, and diftinguifhed them by
numbers ; a method which Vatablus firft followed in his
edition of the Latin Bible, and Robert Stevens in his of
the Greek New Teftament ; which has ever fince been of
common ufe in every edition of the Holy Scriptures, whe-
ther in the learned or vulgar languages.
Thus Ave have taken a fufficient view both of the in- The defiga
ternal and external parts of the Holy Scriptures, of thofe ot the to1-
of the Old Teftament more efpecially ; and the proper re- "w,i?8
ftilt of all our inquiry is, the putting in practice that v/hole-
fome advice, which our bleffed Saviour gives the Jews ; (d)
Search the fcriptures, for in them you think (and think with
very great juftice) that you have eternal life : and to faci-
litate that fearch, the defign of the following meets is, —
by the help of analytic writers, to give the reader a plain
and eafy narrative of the hiftorical parts of the Bible ; by
the afhftance of the beft critics and commentators, to ex-
plain difficult paifages, and reconcile feeming contradic-
tions ; by the ftrength of reafon and argument, to filence
the cavils and objections which have given umbrage to pro-
fanenefs and infidelity ; and by thefe fever'al means (if pof-
{d) JohjaVi '<)> *
cii The APPARATUS, &c.
£ble) to retrieve the credit of the facred writings ; to re-
claim the heart of the unbeliever, and ftop the mouth of
the noify fcoffer; to inftruct the ignorant, confirm the
weak and wavering, fatisfy the curious and inquihuve, and,
in fhort, convince every fober and impartial inquirer of the
truth and juftice of the Pfalmift's prayer and fentiment,
'(e) Teach us, 0 Lord, the way of thy Jlatutes, and wejhall
keep it unto the end. Give us under/landing, and we Jhall
keep thy law ; yea, we Jhall keep it with our whole heart ;
for great is the peace which they have, who love thy law,
and are not offended at it. Amen.
(e) Pfal. cxix. 33. 34. 165.
THE
THE
PREFACE.
AFter fo long an Apparatus, there will be lefs deca-
fion to fay much in the preface ; and yet I thought
it not improper to give the reader a little notice, from what
motives it was that I have undertaken this work, and in
what method I intend, with the bleffing of God, to pur-
fue it.
The Holy Bible itfelf, I readily grant, is, in a great
meafure, hiftorical, and an hiftory of an hiftory may
feem a folecifm to thofe who do not fufficiently attend to
the nature of thefe facred writings, whofe fcope and me-
thod, and form of diction, are vaftly different from any
modern composition : wherein the idiom of the tongue
in which it was penned, and the oriental cuftoms to which
it alludes, occafion much obfeurity ; the difference of time
wherein it was wrote, and variety of authors concerned
therein, a diverfity of ftyle, and frequent repetitions ; the
intermixture of other matters with what is properly hi-
ftorical, a feeming perplexity ; the malice of foes, and
negligence of fcribes, frequent diflocations ; and the defect
of public records, (in the times of perfecution), a lohg in-
terruption of about four hundred years ; to fay nothing
that this hiftory relates to one nation only, and concerns
itfelf no farther with the reft of mankind, than as they had
fome dealings and intercourfe with them. "Whoever, I fay,
will give himfelf the liberty to confider a little the form
and compofition of the Holy Bible, and the weighty con-
cerns which it contains, muft needs be of opinion, that this,
of all other books, requires to be explained where it is ob-
fcure ; methodized where itfeemsconfufed; abridged where
it feems prolix ; fupplied where it is defective ; and ana-
lized where its hiftorical matters lie blended and involved
with other quite different fubjecls. This I call writing an
hifiory of the Bible : and hereupon I thought with myfelf,
that if I could but give the reader a plain and fuccinct narra-
tive of what is purely hiftorical in this facred book, with*
out the interpofttion of any other matter y if I could but
fettlr.
civ PREFACE.
fettle the chronology, and reftore the order of things, by-
reducing every paflage and fail: to its proper place and
period of time; if I could but (by way of notes and
without breaking in upon the feries of the narrative part)
explain difficult texts, rectify mif-tranflations, and reconcile
feeming contradictions, as they occurred in my way ; if I
could but fupply the defect of the Jewifh ftory, by conti-
nuing the account of their affairs under the rule and con-
duct of the Maccabees ; if I could but introduce profane
hiftory as I went along, and, at proper diftances of time,
fum up to my reader what was tranfacting in other parts of
the then known world, while he was perufing the records
of the Hebrew worthies ; and, at the fame time, if I could
but anfwer fuch queftions and objections as infidelity, in
all ages, has been too ready to fuggeft againft the truth
and authority of the Scriptures ; and with all, difcufs fuch
pajTages, and illuftrate fuch facts and events as make the moft
confiderable figure in Holy Writ : If I could but do this, I fay,
I thought I had undertaken a work which might poffibly be
of public ufe and benefit ; feafonable at all times, but more
jefpecially in the age wherein we live, and (if I may be per-
mitted to apply to myfelf the apoftle's words) fuch as might
make me (a) unto Cod a fwect favour in Chrifl in them that
are faved, and in them thatperi/h; to the one the favour of
death unto death, and to the other the favour of life unto life.
I am very well aware, that feveral have gone before me
in works of the like denomination ; but I may boldly ven-
ture to fay, that none ©f them have taken in half that com-
pafs of view which I here propofe to myfelf. Blome has
given us a very pompous book ; but belides that it is no
more than a bare tranflation of Sieur de Royamonfs Hiflor
ry of the Old and New Teflament, it omits many material
facts, obferves no exact feries in its narration, but is
frequently interrupted by infertions of the fentiments of
the fathers, which prove not always fo very pertinent ; and,
in fhort, is remarkable for little or nothing elfe but the
number of its fculptures, which are badly defigned, and
worfe executed. Elwood, in fome refpects, has acquitted
Jdmfelf much better : he has made a pretty juft collection of
the Scripture^account of things ; but then, when any dif-
ficulty occurs, he ufually gives us the facred text itfclf,
without any explanatory note or comment upon it ; and fo
not only leaves his reader's underftanding as ignorant as he
found it, but his mind in fome danger of being tainted by
(a) 2 Cor. ii. 15. 16.
the
PREFACE. cv
the unlawful parallels he makes between the acTs of former
and later times, and by a certain levity which he difcovers
(b) upon feveral occafions, not fo becoming the facrednefs
of his fubjecl:. Howel has certainly excelled all that went
before him, both in his defign and execution of it. He
has given us a continued relation of Scripture-tniniaction ;
has filled up the chafm between Malachi and Chrift ; has
annexed fome notes, which help to explain the difficulties
that are chiefly occafioned by the mii'takes of our tranila-
torc : but in my opinion, he has been a little too fparing in
his notes, and (as fome wiH have it) too pompous in his
diction. He has omitted many things that might juftly de-
serve his notice, and taken notice of others that feem not
fo confiderable. Some very remai'kable events he has
thought fit to pafs by without any comment ; nor has he
attempted to vindicate fuch pafiages as the lovers of infide-
lity are apt to lay hold on, in order to entrench themfelves
the fafer.
Whatever other mens fentiments might be, thefe things
I thought in fome meafure elTential, and at this time (more
efpecially) extremely neceffary in an hiftory of the Bible ; .
and to encourage my purfuit of this method, I have feveral
helps and affiftances which thofe who went before me were
not perhaps fo well accommodated with.
The foundation of ale£hire by the Honourable Mr Eoyb
has given occafion for the principles of natural and revealed
religion to be fairly ftated, and the objections and cavils of
infidelity of all kinds to be fully anfwered. Theinftitution
of another by the Lady Moyer has furniihed us with feve-
ral tracts, wherein the great articles of our Chriftian faith
are ftrenuo,ufly vindicated, and, as far as the nature qf
myfteries will allow, accurately explained.
The uncommon licence which of late years has been
taken to decry all prophecies and miracles, and to expofe
feveral portions of Scripture as abfurd and ridiculous, has
raifed up fome learned men (God grant that the number
of them may every day increafe !) to contend earncftlv for
the faith, and, by the help of critical knowledge in an-
cient cufloms and facred languages, to refcue from their
hands fuch texts and pafiages as the wicked and unliable
were endeavouring to wrelt, to the perverfion of other
mens faith, as well as their own deftruction. The com-
mentaries and annotations we have upon the Scriptures, hot h
{/') Vid. his account of the plague of lice of Pharaoh and his
people ; \\v: ftory of Suspfon's foxes, end risit of £fther.
Vol A. O from
cvi PREFACE.
from our own countrymen, and from foreigners, have, of
late years, been very folid and elaborate ; the difTertations,
or particular treatifes on the moft remarkable facls and e-
vents, extremely learned and judicious ; the harmonifts,
or writers, who endeavour to reconcile feeming contradic-
tions, very accurate and inquifitive ; fuch as have wrote in
an analytical way, clear and perfpicuous enough ; and (to
pafs by feveral others) facred geography has been fully
handled by the great Bochart ; facred chronology fuffi-
ciently afcertained by our renowned Ufher ; and the chafm
in the facred frory abundantly fupplied by our learned Pri-
deaux ; fo that there are no materials wanting to furniih
out a new and compleat hiftory of the Bible, even according
• to the compafs and extent of my fcheme. That therefore
the reader may be apprifed of the method, I propofe to
myfelf, and what he may reafonably expect from me, I
mull deiire him to obferve, that, according to the feveral
periods of time, from the creation of the woild to the full
eftabliihment of Chriftianity, my defign is, to divide the
• whole work into eight books. Whereof
The I. Will extend from the creation to the deluge.
The II. From the deluge to the call of Abraham.
The III. From the call of Abraham to the departure of
the Ifraelites out of Egypt.
The IV. From the departure of the Ifraelites to their en-
trance into the land of Canaan.
The V. From their entrance into Canaan to the building of
Solomon's temple.
The VI. From the building of the temple to the Babylonifh
captivity.
The VII. From the captivity to the birth of Chrift. And
The VIII. From the birth of Chrift to the completion of
the canon of the New Teftament.
Each of thefe books I purpofe to divide into feveral chap-
ters, and each chapter into three parts. The number of
chapters will vary, according as the matter in each period
arifes, but the parts in each chapter will be constantly the
fame, viz.
\Jl, A Narrative Part, which, in plain and eafy diction,
will contain the lubftance of the Scripture-hiftory for fuch
a determinate time.
idly, An Argumentative Part, which will contain an an-
swer to fuch objections as may peffibly be made againft any
Railage in the hiilory comprifed in that time. And,
3%
PREFACE. cvii
idly, A Philological Part, which will contain the fenti-
ffients of the learned, both ancient and modern, concern-
ing fuch remarkable events or tranfactions as lhall happen in
that time ; or perhaps a luminary account of what is moil
confiderable in profane hiitory, towards the conclufion of
each period.
That the reader may perceive how I gradually advance
in the Sacred Hiflory, and, by turning to his Bible, may
compare the narrative with the text, and find a proper fo-
lution to any difficulty that lhall occur in the courfe of his
reading, I lhall, at the top of the page in each feccion, fet
down the book and chapter, or chapters, I have then under
conlideration, and the date of the year, both from the
creation, and before and after the coming of Chrift, where-
in each remarkable event happened. And, that all tilings
may be made as eafy as poffible to the reader, I lhall take,
care not to trouble him with any exotic words in the text ; \
but where there is occafion to infert any Hebrew exprei-
fions, for his fake, I lhall chufe to do it in Engliih charac-
ters, and to reduce every thing that I conceive may be a-
bove his capacity, to the notes and quotations at the bottom
of the page.
The notes (belides the common references) will be only
of four kinds.
ijl, Additional; when a paflage is borrowed from any
other author, whether foreign or domeltic, to confirm or
illuftrate the matter we are then upon; marked thus [*''].
idly, Explanatory ; when, by producing the right iigni-
fication of the origiaal, or inquiring into fome ancient cu-
flom, and the like, we make die palTage under conhderation
more intelligible; marked thus [f].
idly, Reconciliatory ; when, by the help of a parallel place,
or fome logical diftinclion, we Ihew the conliltency of two
or more paflages in Scripture, which, at firft view, fecm to
be contradictory ; marked [!;] .
/\thly, What we may call Emendatory s when, by conlidering
the various lenfesofthe original word, and felecYing what
is moll: proper, or, by having a due attention to the defigrt
of our author and the context, the miitakes in our tranfla-
tions are fet right ; marked [|] .
So that when the reader fees any of thefe character] ftics,
he may be allured what manner of note he is to expect.
The chronological and other tables mud be referved to die
conclufion of the work.
O; An
cviii The Jfewifli account of Time, Money, and Weights.
An account of the Years, Months, and Kalendar of
the Jews ; together with a reduction of the Mo-
ney, Weights, and Measures, to the prefent ^ stand-
ard, and manner of computation, to which the
reader, in the courfe of the hiitory, will have fre-
quent occafion to refer.
The Jewish Years.
THE Hebrews did owginally (even as the Syrians and
Phoenicians) begin their year from the autumnal e-
quinox ; but, upon their coming up out of the land of
Egypt, (which happened in the month Nifan), they, in
commemoration of that deliverance, made their year com-
mence at the beginning of that month, which ulually hap-
pened about the time of the vernal equinox, (c) This
form they ever after made ufe of in the calculation of the
times of their feafts, feftivals, and all other ecclefiaftical
concerns; but in all civil matters, as contracts, obliga-
tions, and all other affairs that were of a fecular nature,
they ftill made ufe of the old form, and began their year as
formerly, from the firft of Tifri, which happened about the
time of the autumnal equinox : fo that the Jews had two
ways of beginning their year ; their facred year (as they
called it) with the month Nifan, and the civil year, with
the month Tifri.
The form of the year which they anciently made ufe of,
was wholly inartificial : for it was not fettled by any aftro-
nornical rules or calculations, but was made' of lunar
months fet out by the pbafis or appearance of the moon.
When they faw the new moon, they began their months,
which fometimes confifted of 29, and ibmetimes of 30
days, according as the new moon did fooner or later appear.
The reafon of this was, becaufe the fynodical courfe of
the moon (i. e. from new moon to new moon) being
29 days and a half, the half day, (which a month of 29
days fell fhort of) was made up, by adding it to the next
month, which made it confiit of 30 days : fo that their
mondis were made up of 29 days, or 30 days, fuccefilvely
and alternately ; with this certain rule, that the firft or ini-
tial month (whether of their facred or civil year) always
coniifted of 30 days, and the firft day of each month was
(r) PnJesux's Connection, in the preface.
called
The Jcwifli account of Time, Money, and Weights, cix
called the new moon. Of twelve of thefe months did their
common year confift : but as twelve lunar months fell ele-
ven days ihort of a folar year, fo every one of thefe common
years began eleven days fooner, which, in thirty years time,
would carry back the beginning of the year through all the,
four feafons, to the fame point again, and get a whole year
from the folar reckoning. To remedy therefore the con-
fufion that might from hence arife, their cuftom was, fome-
times in the third year, and fome times in the fecond, to
caft in another month, (which they called Vender, or the
fecond Adar), and make their ^ear then confift of thirteen!
months ; fo that by the help of this intercalation, they re-
duced their lunar year in fome meafure to that of the fun,
and never fuffered the one, for any more than a month at
any time, to vary from the other.
This intercalation of a month, however, every fecond or
third year, makes it impracticable to fix the beginnings of
the Jewilh months to any certain day in the Julian kalendar ;
but as they therein always fell within the compafs of 30
days, fooner or later, I have given the reader the beft view
I could of their co-incidence and correfpondency, in the fol-
lowing fcheme, wherein the firft column gives the feveral
names and order of the Jewifh months, and the fecond of
the Julian within the compafs of which the faid Jewiih
months have always, fooner or later, their beginning and
ending.
1 Nifan
2 Jyar
3 Sivan
4 Tamuz
5 Ab
6 Elul
J E W I S
f March and
( April
5 April and
^ (May
g \ May and
o-, ( June
.£ j June and
J3 X July
« \ July and
I Auguft
3 Auguftand
i September
S September and
I Oaober
October and
H Mo NTHS.
7 Tifri
8 AW^>^i November
£ 5 November and
ft I December
•9 \ December and
J I January
9 Cijleu
10 Tebeth
11 Shcbat
12 Adar
2 5 January and
' February
3 February and
< March
The thirteenth month (Vender) is then only intercalated..
or caft in, when the beginning of Nifan would otherwife
be carried back into the end of Februarv.
The
tx The Jewiili account of Time, Money, and Weights.
The Jews of old had very exacl: kalendars, wherein were
fet down their feveral fafts and feftivals, and all thofe days
wherein they celebrated the memory of any great event that
had happened to their nation ; but thefe are no longer ex-
tant. All they have that favours of any antiquity, is their
Megillah Thaanith, or Volume Gfaffliftion, which contains the
days of falling and feafting that were heretofore in ufe a-
mong them, but are now laid afide ; and therefore no long-
er to be found in their common kalendars. Out of this vo-
lume, however, as well as fome of their other kalendars,
I thought it not improper to fet down fome of their hiftori-
cal events, in order to let the reader fee on what particular
day of each month their memorial (whether by fading or
feafting) was obferved.
The Jewish Kalendar.
Months. Days,
i. Nisan I. New moon. Beginning of the facred or
or Abib. ecclefiaftical year, a faft for the death of
the children of Aaron, Lev. x. 1.2.
X. A faft for the death of Miriam, the filter
of Mofes, Numb. xx. 1.
XIV. The Pafchal Lamb flain on the evening
of this day.
XV. The great and folemn feaft of the Paf-
fover.
XVI. The oblation of the firft fruits of the
harveft.
XXI. The conclusion of the FafTover, or end
of unleavened bread.
XXIV. A faft for the death of Jofhua.
2. Jyar or VII. The dedication of the temple, when the
Jiar. Afmoneans confecrated it again after the
perfecutions of the Greeks.
X. A faft for the death of the high-prieft
Eli, and for the taking of the ark by the
Philiftines.
XXIII. A feaft for *he taking of the city
of Gaza by Simon Maccabeus, 1 Mac. xiii.
43. 44.
XXVIII. A faft for the death of the prophet
Samuel, 1 Sam. xxv. 1.
3. SlVAN.
The Jew iili account of Time, Money, and Weights, exi
Months. Days.
3. Sivan. VI. Pentecqft, or the fiftieth day after the
paffover, called likewife the feaji of
"weeks, becaufe it happened feven weeks
after the paffover.
XV. A feaft for the victory of the Mac-
cabees over the people of Bethlam,
1 Mac. v. 52.
XVII. A feaft for the taking of Csefarea by
the Afmoneans.
XXVII. A fail in remembrance of Jero-
boam's forbidding his fubjecls to carry
their firft fruits to Jerufalem, 1 Kings
xii. 27.
XXX. A feaft in memory of the folemn
judgment given by Alexander the Great,
in favour of the Jews, againft the Ifh-
maelites and Egyptians.
4. Tamuz or IX. A faft for the taking of Jerufalem on
Tham muz. that day, but whether by Nebuchadnez-
zar, Antiochiis Epiphanes, or the Ro-
mans, it is not faid.
XVII. A faft in memory of the tables of
the law that were broken by Mofes,
Ext&l. xxxii. 1 5.
c. Ab. IX. A faft in memory of God's declaring
to Mofes (as on this day) that none of
the murmuring Ifraelites fhould enter
into the land of Canaan, Numb. xiv.
29. 31.
X. A faft, becaufe, on this fame day, the
city and temple were taken and burnt,
firft by the Chaldeans, and afterwards
by the Romans.
XVIII. A faft, becaufe that, in the time
of Ahab, the evening lamp went out.
6. Elul. VII. A feaft in memory of the dedication
■ of the walls of Jerufalem by Nehemiah,
Ezra, vi. 16.
XVII. A faft for the death of the fpies,
who brought an ill report of the land of
promife, Numb. xiv. 36. 37.
7. TlSRI,
cxii The Jewilh account of Time, Money, and Weights.
Months. Pays.
7. Tisri. I. The feaft of trumpets, Lev. xxiii. 34.
Numb. xxix. 1.2.
III. A faft for the death of Gedaliah,
whereupon the expulfion of the people,
and the utter deftruction of the land
enfued, Jer. xli. 2.
VII. A faft for the Ifraelites worfhipping
the golden calf, and the fentence which
God pronounced againft them in confe-
quence of that crime, Exod.xxxii. 6. <bc.
X. The faft of expiation, as fome think,
in memory of man's fall, and expulfion
out of paradife, Lev. xxiii. 19.
XV. The feaft of tabernacles, in memory
of their dwelling in tents, in their paf-
fage through the wildernefs, Lev. xxiii.
34.
XXIII. The rejoicing for the law ; or a
feaft inftituted in memory of the law,
which God gave them by the hand of
Mofes.
S, Marches- VI. A faft upon the occafion of Nebuchad-
van. nezzar's putting out Zedekiah's eyes, af-
ter that he had flain his children in his
light, 2 Kings xxv. 7. Jer. hi. 11.
£). Cisleu. VI. A faft in memory of the book of Je-
remiah torn and burnt by King Jehoi-
achim, Jer. xxxvi. 23.
VII. A feaft in memory of the death of
Herod the Great, a bitter enemy to the
fages.
XXI. The feaft of Mount Gerizim, upon
their obtaining leave of Alexander the
Great to deftroy the temple of Samaria,
which was fituate there.
XXV. The feaft of dedication, viz. of the
temple, profaned by the order of Antic-
chus Epiphanes, and repaired and beauti-
fied by the care of Judas Maccabeus.
This feftival Chrift honoured with his
prefence at Jerusalem. It is likewife call-
ed thefeajl of lights^ becaufe, during the
time
The Jewifli account of time, Money, and Weights, cxiii
Months. Days.
time of its celebration, the people were
ufed to illuminate their houfes, by fetting
up candles at every one's door. Fid. i
Mace. iv. 52. ; 2 Mace. ii. 16. ; John x.
22.
10. Tebeth. X. A fan: in memory of the liege of Je-
rufalem, by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings
XXV. I.
XXVIII. A feaft for the exclulion of the
Sadducees ouj of the Sanhedrim, where
they had once all the power.
11. Shebeth. IV. A faft in memory of the death of the
elders who fucceeded Jolhua, Judg. ii.
10.
XV. The beginning of the years of trees,
when they were fir ft allowed to eat the
fruit thereof, after they were four year&
planted, Lev. xix. 23. &c.
XXIII. A fall: for the war of the ten
tribes againft that of Benjamin, for the
outrage committed upon the body of the
Levite's wife, Judg. xx.
XXIX. A memorial of the death of An-
tiochus Epiphanes, a cruel enemy to the
Jews, 1 Mac. vi.
T2. Adar. VII. A faft in remembrance of the death
of Mofes, Deut. xxxiv. 5.
XIII. Efther's faft, probably in memory
of that which is mentioned in Efther iv.
16.
XV. A feaft in memory of the death of
Nicanor, a bitter enemy to the Jews, 1
Mac. xv. 30.
The feaft of Purim or Lots ; becaufe, when
Haman purpofed to deftroy all the Jews
that were in Perlia, according to the fu-
perftition of the country, he firft drew
lots, to know on what day of the year
it would be beft to put his delign in exe-
cution, from whence the feaft, in com-
Vol. I. P memoratioa
cxi v The Je wife account of Time, Money, and Weights ,
Months. Days.
memoration of their efcape, took its
name.
XIII. The dedication of the temple of
Zerubbabel, Ezra vi. 1 6.
XXVIII. A feaft in commemoration of the
repeal of the decree whereby the kings
of Greece had forbidden the Jews to cir-
cumcife their children, to obferve the
Sabbath, and to reject foreign worfhip.
When the year confifts of thirteenth months, here is the
place where the fecond month of Adar, or Veadary by
way of intercalation, comes in.
Jewish Money.
The cuftom of making money, of fuch a form, fuch
an allay, and fuch a determinate value, is not fo ancient
as fome may imagine. (d) The original way of com-
merce was certainly by way of barter, or exchanging one
kind of merchandife for another, as it is the cuftom, in
fome places, even to this day. In procefs of time, fuch
metals as were generally efteemed to be moft valuable,
were received into traffic, but then the cuftom was to
weigh them out to one another ; till, finding the delays
and other inconveniencies of this method, they agreed to
give each metal a certain mark, a certain weight, and a
certain degree of allay, in order to fix its value ; but it
was a long while before men came into this agreement.
The coinage of money among the Perfians, Greeks, and
Romans, was htit of late date : among the Perfians, no
older- than the times of Darius, fon of Hyftafpes ; and
among the Grecians, (from whom the Romans very proba-
bly took it), of the fame date with Alexander. We have
no traces of this practice among the ancient Egyptians,
before the time of the Ptolemies ; nor had the Hebrews
this cuftom among them, (e) until the government of Si-
mon
(d) Calmet's diflertation, vol. i. (<?) And yet the
Jews have a tradition, that not only Jofliua, David, and Mor-
dccai, but even Abraham himfelf had found out the way of coin-
ing. It is laid of Abraham indeed, that he was very rich htfU-
ver and gold, Gen. xiii. 2» But we no where read that this
maney
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X
<*7+>l*_
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood, 3
and all the fons ofGodfboutedforjoy, we cannot but infer, A- M- r-.
chat thefe Jiars, and thefe fons of God, were pre-exiftent ; Ant' chnf-
and confequently no part of the Mofaic creation. Gen. ch. t.
By the heaven therefore we are to underftand no more, »nd P"t of
than that part of the world which we behold above us :, '
but then I imagine we have very good reafon to extend our
conceptions of this world above us fo far, as to include
in it the whole planetary fyftem. f The truth is, the fe-
veral planets that are contained within the magnus orbis,
•f- The better to underftand this, and fome other matters, in
our explication of the formation of celeftial bodies, it is proper to
obferve, that there are three more remarkable fyftems of the
world, the Ptolemaic, Copernican, and what is called the New
Syftem, which aftronomers havedevifed.
1//, In the Ptolemaic, the earth and waters are fuppofed to be
in the centre of the univerfe, next to which is the element of
air, and next above that the clement of fire ; then the orb of
Mercury, then that of Venus, and then that of the Sun; above the
fun's orb thofe of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn ; and above them all,
the orbs of the fixed ftars, then the chryftalline orbs, and laftly,
the caelum empyreum, or heaven of heavens. All thefe maily
orbs, and vaft bodies borne by them, are in this fyftem fuppofed
to move round the terraqueous globe once in twenty-four hours ;
andbefides that, to perform other revolutions in certain periodical
times, according to their diftance from the fuppofed centre, and
the different circumference they take. ,
zd/j, In the Copernican fyftem, the fun is fuppofed to be in
the centre, and the heavens and earth to revolve round about it,
according to their feveral periods ; firft Mercury, then Venus, then
the Earth with its fatellite the Moon; then Mars, then Jupiter
with its four moons ; laftly, Saturn with its five, or more moons
revolving round it ; and beyond, or above all thefe, is the firma-
ment, or region of fixed ftars, which are all fuppofed to be at e-
qual diftances from their centre the fun.
$d/y, In the New Syftem, the fun and planets have the fame
fite and pofition as in the Copernican; but then, whereas the Co-
pernican fuppofes the firmament of the fixed ftars to be the bounds
of the univerfe, and placed at equal diftance from its centre the
fun ; this new hypothelis fuppofes, that there are many more fy-
ftems of funs and planets, befides that in which we have our ha-
bitation ; that every fixed ftar, in lhort, is a fun, encompaifed
with its complement of planets, both primary and ft condary, as
well as ours ; and that thefe ftars, with their planets, are placed at
regular diftances from each other, and, according to their diftan-
ces from us, feem to vary in their refpedtive magnitudes ; Dcr-
kayris djira-thsology, in the preliminary difcourfe.
(as
4 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. (as it is called), or the circle which Saturn defcribes about
Ant. hut. ^ j-un^ jiave jpQ near a fimilitude and relation : the fame
Gen. ch. r.form, the fame centre, and the fame common luminary
and part of/with one another, that it can hardly be imagined but that
* _ ,they were the production of one and the fame creation.
_ v~ And therefore, though the hiftorian feems chiefly to regard
the earth in his whole narration ; yet there is reafon to pre-
fume, that the other parts of the planetary world we nt all
along on in the fame degrees of formation with it.
That this 2<#y, It is to be obferved farther, that this planetary
world was world, or fyffcem of things, was not immediately created
formed outout 0f nothing, (as very probably the fupreme heavens
if[in^chao^"were)' Dut out °^ ^ome ^ucn Pre"exiftent matter as the an-
cient Heathens were wont to call chaos. And accordingly
we may obferve, that in the hiftory which Mofes gives us
of the creation, he does not fay, that God at once made all
things in their full perfection, but that * in the beginning
he created the earth, i. e. the matter whereof the chaos was
compofed, which was without form, without any fhape or
order, and void, without any thing living or growing in it ;
and darknefs was upon the face of the waters, nothing was
feen for want of light, which lay buried in the vaft
abyfs.
Accord-
* What oar tranflators render [in the beginning^ fome learn-
ed men have made [in wifdom\ God created the heaven and the
earth ; not only becaufe the Jerufalem targum has it fo, but be-
caufe the Plaimift, paraphraling upon the works of the creation,
breaks forth into this admiration, 0 Lord! how "wonderful are
thy works, in wifdom haft thou made them all, Pfal. civ. 24. And
again, exhorting us to give thanks unto the Lord for his mani-
fold mercies, he adds, who by wifdom made the heavens, ibid.
cxxxvi. J. where, by wifdom, as fome imagine, he means rhcfon
of God, by whom (fays the Evaugelifl, John i. 3.) all things were
made, or all things created {(ays the apollle, Col. i. 16.) that are
in heaven, and that are in the earth ; and therefore the meaning
of the phrafe mult be, that God, in creating the world, made ufe
of the agency of his fon. Fuit hxc apud antiquos [fays Pera-
vitis, Dj officio fex dierum, I. 1. c. I.] pervagata, multumque
communis opinio, principii nomine verbum pgnificari, feufilium.
And to this interpretation the word Eiohim in the plural num-
ber, joined with bara a verb lingular, feems to give fome coun-
tenance ; though others are of opinion, that a noun plural, go-
verning a verb lingular, is no more than the eommon idiom of
the Hebrew tongue ; and for this idiom a very confiderable com-
mentator
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 5
According to tradition then, and the reprefentation A- M. 1.
which this infpired author Teems to 2,'ive us, * this chaos Chnf.
r i . . 4004.
was a fluid mafs, wherein were the materials and ingre- Gen. ch. r.
dients of all bodies, but mingled in confuiion with one ano- and part of
ther, fo that heavy and light, denfe and rare, fluid and fo-,
lid particles, were jumbled together, and the atoms or final!
conftituent parts of fire, air, water, and earth, (which
have flnce obtained the name of elements), were every one
in every place, and all in a wild confuiion and diforder.
This feems to be a part of God's original creation ; but why
he fuffered it to continue fo long, before he transformed it
into an habitable world, is a queftion only refolvable in-
to the divine pleafure : fince, according to the ideas we
have of his moral perfections, there is nothing to fix the
creation of any thing fooner or later, than his own arbitra-
ry will determined. Only we may imagine, that, after the
revolt of fo many angels, God intending to make a new
race of creatures, in order to fupply their place, and fill up
(as it were) the vacancy in heaven ; and withal, refolving
to make trial of their obedience before he admitted them
into his beatific prefence, fingled out one (as perhaps * there
might be many chaotic bodies in the univerfe) placed at a
•proper diftance from his own empyrean feat, to be the ha-
bitation
mentator affigns this reafon : That the Hebrew language
was originally that of the Canaanites, a people ftrangely addicted
to idolatry and polytheifm ; and who therefore made more ufe of
the plural Elohim, than of the lingular Eloaji ; which ufage the
Jews continued, though they were zealous alierters of the unity of
the Godhead, and thereupon molt commonly joined a verb of the
fingular number with it, purfuant to their notions of the divine up-
pity; he Clercs di'Jert. De ling. Hebraicd.
* To mention one author out of the many which Grotius has
cited, Ovid, in the beginning of his Metamorphofes, has given us
this defcription of it :
Ante mare, et terras, et quod tegit omnia, ccelum,
Unus erat toto naturse vultus in orbe,
Quem dixcre chaos : rndis, indigeftaque moles,
Nee quicqunm, nifi pondus iners, congeftaquc eodem
Non bene junctarum difcordia femina rerum, &c.
* Si materia chaus extitit ante mundi Mofaici principium, quid
fuit, quem in finem extitit, aut ubinam loci ante illud tempus ?
Refpondco, haec non effe. nimis fqlljcite quasrenda, cum magna
(fx parte notitiam nonram fugiant. Sed vidimus quandoque novas
(tellas in ccelo oriri, qua; nunquam antes apparnerant ; qnas ta-
Vcl. |, C£, nv.r.
6 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book L
A. M. i. bltation of the creatures he was about to foi-m, and might
11 'mi' delay the fitting it up for them until the time which his in-
Gen.ch. i. finite wifdom had determined for their creation was fully
and part of come.
^dly, It is to be obferved farther, that though Mofes
might have in his view the whole planetary fyftem, and
know very well, that every day each planet advanced in the
fame proportion, as the earth did in its formation : yet
what he principally chofe to inlift on (as a fpecimen of all
the reft) was this fublunary creation. He who was verfed
in ail the learning of the Egyptians, could not be unacquaint-
ted with the vulgar, or what is ufually called the Ptolemaic
bypothefis, which came originally from Egypt into Greece ;
and yet, inflead of expreffing his notions according to this,
or any other fyftem, we find him giving us a plain narra-
tive, how matters were tranfacted, without afferting or de-
nying any philofophic truth. Had he indeed talked a great
deal of globular and angular particles, of centrical motion,
planetary vortices, atmofpheres of comets, the earth's ro-
tation, and the fun's reft, he might poffibly have pleafed
the tafte of fome theorifts better; but theories we know
are things of uncertain mode. They depend in a great
meafure upon the humour and caprice of an age, which is
fometimes in love with one, and fometimes with another.
But this account of Mofes was to laft for ever, as being
the ground-work which God defigned for all his future re-
velations ; and therefore it was requifite to have it framed
in fiicb a manner, as that it might condefcend to themean-
eft capacity, and yet not contradict any received notions of
philofophy.
The Jews, it muft be owned, were a nation of no great
genius for learning ; and therefore, if Mofes had given
them a falfe fyftem of the creation, fuch as afimple people
might be apt to fancy, he had both made himfelf an
jmpoi-.or, and expofed his writings to the contempt and
derifkm of every man of underftanding: and yet, to have
given -them a particular explication of the true one, muft
men przeextitiiTe, fab aliqna forma, et alicubi locornm, aequum
eft credamns. Prasterca, cometas fepe in ccelo advertimus,
jjuarum origo, ct prirag? fedes nos latent. Denique, neutiquam
fmgeridum eft, ccelos incbrruptjbiles : corpora cceleftia, proinde
ac terreftria, fuas habent viciffitudines et tranfmutationes ; atque
jpfre fixas in planetas, mediante chao, converti poflunt, et vicif-
fim pianet'T, excufljs fordibus, in fixas revivifcerc; ire-; Bur-
V<5?s Archcol, Thil"foph. cap. 9.
have
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 7
have made the illiterate look upon him as a wild romancer. A. M. jr.
By God's direction, therefore, he took the middle and wiieft °4
way, which was to fpeak exact truth, but cautioufly, and Gen. di. f.
in fuch general terms as might neither confound the minds and part of
of the ignorant Jews, nor expofe him to the cenfure of phi- f_l' j
iofophizing Chriftiaris : and we may well account it an e-
vident token of a particular providence of God over-ruling
this infpired penman, that he has drawn up the cofmogony
in fuch a manner, as makes it of perpetual ufe and applica-
tion ; forafmuch as it contains no peculiar notions of his own,
no principles borrowed from the ancient cxlpoded philofo-
phy, nor any repugnant to the various difcoveries of the new.
qthly, It is to be obferved farther, in relation to this ac-The crea-
count of Mofes, that when God is laid to give the word, tion not left;
and every thing thereupon proceeded to its formation, he aiK{mot;on.
did not leave matter and motion to do their belt, whilfr. he
if ood by (according to Dr Cudworth's expreffion) as an
idle fpectator of this lufus atomcrum, and the ajfrious remits
of it; but himfelf interpofed, and, conducting the whole
procefs, gave not only life and being, but form and figure
to every part of the creation.
The warmed abetters of mechanical principles do not
deny, but that (a) a divine energy at leaft muft be admitted
in this cafe, where a world was to be formed, and a wild
chaos reduced to a fair, regular, and permanent fyftem.
The immediate hand of God (they cannot but acknow-
ledge) is apparent in a miracle, which is an infraction up-
on the (landing laws of nature ; but certainly, of all mi-
racles, the creation of the world is the greateft, not only
as it llgnifies the production of matter and motion out of
nothing, but as it was likewife the ranging and putting
things into fuch order, as might make them capable of the
laws of motion which were to be ordained for them.
(b) For whatever notions we may have of the flated oeco-
nomy of things now, it is certain that the laws of motion
(with which philolophers make fuch noife) could not take
place before every part of the creation was ranged and fet-
tled in its proper order.
It may be allowed however, fincc, even in the Mofaic
account, there are fome paiTages, (fuch as, Let the earth
bring forth grafs, let the earth bring forth the living
creature after his kind, and it "was jo), that whatever
(a) Vid. WliiOon's Theory.
\b) Vid. Hale's Origin of mankind.
Q^2 comes
8 - The Hiftory of the BIBLE, B)ok L
A. M. i. comes under the compafs of mechanical caufes, might pof-
Ant o^in '^^y De efi'e<^ed by matter and motion, only fet on work
Gen. ch. i.by infinite wifdom, and fuftained in their being and opera-
and part of tion by infinite power ; but whatever is above the power o£
f '1' fecond caufes, iuch as the production of matter out of no-
"■""*"- thing, the formation of the feeds of all animals and vege-
tables, the creation of our firft parents, and infpiring them
with immortal fouls, 6r. thefe we affirm, and thefe we
Ought to believe, were the pure refult of God's omnipotent
power, and are afcribed to him alone.
To this purpofe we may obferve, that before our author
begins to acquaint us with what particular creatures were
each day fucceilively brought into being, he takes care to
inform us, (as a thing eiTential and preparatory to the work),
f that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
For, whether by the Spirit of Gody we are to underftand (a)
his holy and eiTential Spirit, which is- the third perfon
in the everilelTed Trinity, whether (b) that plajlic nature f
which (according to fome) was made fubfervient to him up-
on this occafion, or any other emanation of the divine,
power and energy, it is reafonable to fuppofe, that its mo-
ving, or incubation upon the chaotic mafs, derived into it a
certain fermentation, impregnated it with feveral kinds of
motive influence, and fo feparated and digefted its confufed
parts, as to make it capable of the difpofition and order it
was going to receive.
The
f The word in the Hebrew, according to the opinion of
fome both ancient and modern interpreters, fignifles literally a
brooding upon the waters, even as a hen does upon her eggs ;
bur, as there are only two places wherein the word occurs,
[Dent xxxii n. and Jer. xxxiii. 9.], Mr Le Clerc contends,
that in neither of thefe it will properly admit of this fenfe ; and
therefore he rather thinks it (as our Ainfworth feems to do) to be
a metaphoc taken from the hovering and fluttering of an eagle,
or any other bird, over its young, but not its fitting over, or
brooding upon them. A difhnction of no great moment in my
opinion.
(a) Cudvvorth's Intelleelual fyflem.
\b) Gen. i. 2. It is obferved by fome later Jewifli, as well as
Gkriltian interpreters, that the feveral names of God are often
given as epithets to thofe things which are the greateft, the
ftrongeft, and the beft of their kind ; and thereupon they think,
that fince the word Ruach fignifles the •wind, as well as the Spirit P
Snarb Ekhhn fhculd be tranllated a txoji vehement wind, inltead
o£
Chap. I. From the Creation to the Flood
1
The History.
N this condition we may fuppofe the chaos to have been, a. m. r.
when the f Jiat for light was given ; whereupon all Ant. Chrif,
the confufed, Stagnating particles of matter began to range G^°°^
into form and order. The dull, heavy, aind terrene parts, and part 0f
which over-clouded the expanfum, had their fummons toch. ».
retire to their refpective centres. They prefently obeyed the "w— — v— — *
Almighty's orders, and part of them fubfided to the cen-^. |:hcW£*ft
tre of the earth, fome to Jupiter, fome to Saturn, fome^ay.
to Venus, <bc till the globes of thefe fcveral planets were
compleated. And as the groffer parts fubfided, the light-
er, and more tenuous mounted up ; and the lucid and fiery
particles (being lighter than the reft) afcending higher,
and, by the divine order, meeting together in a body, ,m
were put in a circular motion, and, in the fpace of a na-
tural day, made to viiit the whole expanfum of the chaos,
which occalioned a feparation of the light from darknefs,
and thereby a distribution of day and night f : and this
was the work of the firft day.
The next thing which God Almighty commanded, Thefeco&d
was, that the waters, which as yet were univerfally dif-
perfed over the face of the chaos, fhould retire to their re-
of the Spirit of God; and that this fignification agrees very well
with Mofes's account, which reprefents the earth fo mixed with
the waters, that it could not appear, and therefore flood in need
ofawindto dry it. But befides that this lenfe feems to be a
fad debafing of the text, it is certain, that the wind (which is
nothing but the moving of the air) could not be fpoken of now,
becaufe it was not created until the fecond day,
-f- The words are, Let there he light, which, as Longinus takes
notice, is a truly lofty expredion ; and herein appears the wif-
dom of Mofes that he reprefents God like himfelf, commanding
things into being by his word, /. e. his will : for where-ever
v. read the words \he faid] in the hiftory of the creation, the
meaning mufl be, that he willed fo and fo ; Patrick's co?n?nent.
-f- If we rather approve the Copernican hypothefis, we mult
fay, that the earth, having now received its diurnal and annual
motion, and having turned round about its axis, for about the
fpace of 12 hours, made this luminous body, now fixed in a
proper place, appear in the call, which, in the fpace of jz
hours more, feemed to fet in the weft; and that this revolution •
made a diflin&ion between day and night ; Bedford's chrono~
- %..
fpedtive
to The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. r. fpe£Uve planets, and be reftrained within their proper li-
Anto mits by feveral atmofpheres. Hereupon all the aqueous parts
Gen. ch. i. immediately fubfided towards the centres of the feveral pla-
and part of nets, and were circumfufed about their globes ; by which
means the great expanfum was again cleared off, and the
region of the air became more lucid and ferene. And
this is the operation which Mofes calls dividing the -wa-
, ters under f the firmament from the waters -which are above
f the firmament ; for the waters under the firmament are
the waters of the earth, the waters above the firmament
are thofe of the moon, and other planets, which, in the
fecond day's work, were difmiffed to their feveral orbs, but
were confufedly mixed, and overfpread the whole face of
the expanfum before.
The third Thus, 'on the fecond day, the delightful element of
air was difintangled and extracted from the chaos : and
one part of the bufinefs of the third, was to feparate the
other remaining elements, 'water and earth. For the wa-
try particles, as we fa id, clearing the expanfum, and fall-
ing upon the planetary orbs, muft be fuppofed to cover the
face of the earth, as well as other planets, when the great
Creator gave the command for the -waters to be gathered
into one plate, and the dry land to appear. Whereupon
the mighty mountains inftantly reared up their heads, and
the waters, falling every way from their fides, ran into
thofe large extended vallies, which this fwelling of the earth
in fome places had made for their reception in others. The
earth, being thus feparated from the waters, and defigned
for the habitation of man and beaft, (which were afterwards
f Gen. i. 6. The LXX interpreters, in tranflating the word
\_Rakiagh~] the firm or folid, feem to have followed the philofo-
phy of the firft ages : for the ancients fancied, that the hea-
vens were a folid body, and that the liars were fattened therein,
which might likewife be the notion of Elihu, [Jobxxxvii. 18.]
fmce he reprefents the heaven to be ftrong or folid, like a molten
looking-glafs ; whereas, the proper fenfe of the word is foir«-
ih'mgjpread or fir etched out. And to this both the Pfalmift and
prophet allude, when they tell us, that God fpreadeth out the
heaven like a curtain, Pfal. civ. 2. and flretchsd them out by his
difcretion, Jer, x. 12.
\ Several commentators fuppofe the -waters above the fir-
wiameiit to be thofe which hang in the clouds ; but the notion
of their being planetary waters feems more reafonable, becauie
at this time, there were no clouds, neither had it as yet rained
on the earth ; vid. Gen. ii. 6.
to
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. i j
to be created), was firffc to be furnifhed with fuch things as A. M. i.
were proper for their fupport ; grais for cattle, and herbs Chnf.
and fruit-trees for the nourishment of man. Immediate- Gen. ch. i.
\y therefore, upon the divine command, it was covered and part of
with a beautiful carpet of flowers and grafs, trees and^h,^_
plants of all kinds, which were produced in their full pro- "^
portion, laden with fruit, and not fubjected to the ordinary
courfe of maturation. For how great foever the fecun-
dity of the primogenial earth might be, yet it is fcarce to
be imagined, how f trees and plants could be ripened,
into their full growth and burthen of fruit, in r.he fhort
period of a day, any other way than by virtue of a fu-
pernatural power of God, which firft collected the parts of
matter fit to produce them ; then formed every one of them,
and determined their kinds ; and at laft provided for their
continuance, by a curious inclolure pi their feed, in order
to propagate their fpecies, even unto the end of the world :
And this was the work of the third day.
When God had finilhed the lower world, and furnifhed The fourth
it with all manner of ftore, that mafs of fiery light,
(which we fuppofe to have been extracted on the firft
day, and to have moved about the expanfum for two days
after), was certainly of great ufe in the production of the
aether, the feparation of the waters, and the rarefaction
of the land, which might pofiibly require a more violent
operation at firft, than was neceflary in thofe leffer alte-
rations, which were afterwards to be effected ; and there-;
fore, on the fourth day, God took and condenfed it, and
caft ing it into a proper orb, placed it at a convenient di-
stance from the earth and other planets ; infomuch, that
it became a fun, and immediately fhone out in the fame
glorious manner, in which it has done ever fince.
After this, God took another part of the chaos, art
opaque fubftence, which we call the moon ; and having
call it into a proper figure, placed it in another orb, at a
T There arc two things wherein the production of plants,
in the beginning, differed from their production ever fince.
iff, That they have fprung ever fince out of their feed, either
fown by us, or falling from the plants themfelvcs ; but in the
beginning, were brought out of the earth, with their feed in
them, to propagate them ever after. 2clly, That they need now
(as they have ever fince the firft: creation) the influence of the fun,
to make them fprout ; but then they came forth by the power of
God, before there was any fun, which was not formed till the
vexi day; T at; kICs comment, in he
fteareij
12 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, BookL
A. M. i. nearer diftance from the earth, that it might perpetually be
*nt- n ' moving round it, and that the fun, by darting its rays upon
Gen. ch. i. its foiid furface, might reflect light to the terreftrial globe,
and part of for the benefit of its in inhabitants : and, at the fame time,
that God thus made the moon, he made, in like manner,
f the other five planets of the folar fyftern, and their fa-
tellites. Nor was it only for the difpenfation of light to
this earth of ours, that God appointed the two great lumi-
naries of the lun and moon to attend it, but for the mea-
sure and computation of time like wife : that a fpeedy
and fwift motion of the fun, (according to the Ptolemaic
fyftern), in twenty-four hours round the earth, or of the
earth (according to the Copernican) upon its own axis,
might .make a day; that the time from one change of
the moon to another, or thereabouts, might make a month ;
and the apparent revolution of the fun, to the fame point
of the ecliptic line, might not only make a year, but oc-
cafion likewife a grateful variety of feafons in the feveral
parts of the earth, which are thus gradually and fuccef-
fively vifited by the reviving heat of the fun-beams : And
this was the work of the fourth day.
The fifth. After the inanimate creation, God, on the fifth day,
proceeded to form the animate ; and becaufe fifh and fowl
are not fo perfecl: in their kind, neither fo curious in then*
bodily texture, nor fo fagacious in their inftincl, as terre-
ftrial creatures are known to be, he therefore began with
them, and || out of the waters, i. e. out of fuch matter
as
•\ I am very fenfible that the words in the text are, He viade
the flars alfo, ver. 16. • but the whole fentence comes in fo very
abruptly, that one would be apt to imagine, that after Mofes's
time, it was clapped in by fomc body who had a mind to be
mending his hypi ihefis, or elfe was added, by way of marginal
note, atfirfl; and at length crept into the text itfelf, (as F. Si'
mon has evidenced in feveral other inftances). For the fixed
ftars do not feem to be comprehended in the fix day's -work,
which relates only to this planetary world, that has the fun for
its centre; Patrick's comment, and Nicholls's conference, vol. I.
Vid. anfwer to the fubfequent objection.
|| From the words in Gen. [ch. i. ver. 20.] Let the waters
bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and
fowl, that may fly above the earth, &c. fnme have flarted an
opinion, that fowl derive their origin from the water; and
others, from the words, Out of the ground Cod formed every
haj} tfths field, and every fowl of the air, raife another, vU,
that
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood* 13 \
as was mixed and concocted with the water, he formed fe- A. M. 1.
veral of diiFerent ihapes and fiaea ; forne vaftly big, f to Ant' chl'"-
Ihew the wonders of his creating power ; and foaie ex- Gen. ch. r.
tremely fmall, to fliew the goodnefs of his indulgent pro- and pan of
vidence. And (what is peculiar to this day's work) herech' 2-
we have the nrft mention mads of God's bleffing his crea- ~"~tl~J
tures, and f bidding them be fruitful and multiply, i. e. gi-
ving them, at their firft creation, a prolific virtue, and a na-
tural inftincl: for generation, whereby they might not only
preferve their fpecies, but multiply their individuals : and
this was the work of the fifth day.
Thus every thing being put in order; thei earth co- The fixth.
vered with plants ; the waters ftored with fifh ; the air
replenished with fowl ; and the fun placed at a proper di-
ftance, to give a convenient warmth and nouriihment to
that fowl took their beo-inning from the earth : but thefe two
texts are eaiily reconciled, becaufe ncithei denies what the other
fays, though they fpeak differently; as when Moles fays, Let the
•waters bring forth fowl, he does not by that fay, that the earth
did not bring forth fowl. It is moft reafonable therefore to think,
that they had their original partly from the waters, and partly
from the earth ; and this might render the nefh of fowl lefs grois
than that of beads, and more firm than that of fithes. Hence
Philo calls fowl the kindred of fijh ; anJ that they are fo, the great
congruity there is in their natures (they being both oviparous*
which makes them more fruitful than other animals, and both
fleering and directing their courfc by their tails) is a fufheient in-
dication.
-f- Mofes inftances in the whale, becaufe it is fuppofed to be the
principal and largcft of all filhes ; but the original word denotes
feveral kinds of great fi(h, as Bochart [in ills Kierozom. p. r.
1. I. c. 7.] obferves at large ; and (hews withal the prodigious
bignefs of fome of them ; but he ihould have added, that the word
fignifies a crocodile likewife, as well as a whale ; Patrick, and Le
Clerc in loc.
f That filh and fowl Ihould here have a bleffing pronounced
upon them, rather than the beafts, which were made the fixth
day, fome have fuppofed this to be the reafon ; — that the pro-
duction of their young requires the particular care of divine
providence, becaufe they do not bring them forth perfectly formed
as the beafts do, but only lay their eggs, in which the young arc
hatched and formed, even when they are feparate from their bo-
dies : and " what a wonderful thing is this," fays one, " that when
" the womb (as we may call it) is Separated from the genitor, a
" living creature like itftlf Ihould be produced V Patrick's Com-
ment.
Vol.1. R alt;
ch. %.
•i 4 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
K. M. r. an . jn order to make this fublunary world a ftill more
4004"' comfortable place of abode, in the beginning of the fixth,
Gen. ch. i. and laft day, j| God made the terreftrial animals, which
' and pait of the facred hifiovian diftributes into three kinds : ljf, Beqfls,
,by which we underftand all wild and favage creatures,
fuch as lions, bears, wolves, <&c. idly, Cattle, all tame
and domeftic creatures, defigned for the benefit and ufe of
men, fuch as oxen, fheep, horfes, <bc. And, idly,
Creeping things, fuch as ferpents, worms, and other kinds
of infects .
Thus, when all things which could be fubfervient
to man's felicity were perfected ; when the light had,
for fome time, been penetrating into, and clarifying the
dark and thick atmofphere ; when the air was freed from
its noifome vapours, and become pur^ and clear, and lit
for his refpiration ; when the waters were lb difpofed, as*
to "tninifter to his neceffities by mifts and dews from hea-
]| In the 24th verfe df this chapter, it is faid, that God com-
manded the earth to produce fuch and fnch animals; Let the
earth bring forth the living creature after his k'md ; and yet, in
the very next verfe, it follow?, that Cod made the beaft of the
earth, and every thing that moveth, after his kind : but this
feeming contradiction is eafily reconciled, by putting together
the proper meaning of both thefe pafiages, which mnft certain-
ly be this that God himfelf efiectually formed thefe terre-
ftrial animals, and made nfe of the earth only as to the mat-
ter whereof he conftituted their parts. Some indeed have made
it a queftion, whether thefe feveral creatures were at firft pro-
duced in their full ftate and perfection, or God only created
the feeds of all animals, (i. e . the animals themfelves in minia-
ture), and difperfed them over the face of the earth, giving
power to that element, affilled by the genial heat of the fun,
to hatch and bring them forth ; but for this there is no manner
of cccafion, fincc it is much more rational to fuppofe, that
God did not commit the formation of things to any inter-
mediate caufes, but himfelf created the firft fet of animals in
the full proportion and perfection of their fpecific natures,
and gave to each fpecies a power afterwards, by generation,
to propagate their kind; for that even now, and in the prefent
fituation of things, any perfect fpecies cannot, either naturally
or accidentally, be produced by any preparation of matter, or
by any influence of the heavens, without the interpolition of
an almighty power, phyfical experiments do demonftrate ;
Patrick's Commetitary ; and Bentle/s Sermons at Boyle's Lee*
tures.
ven,
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Floocl. 15
ven, and by fprings and rivers from the earth ; when A. M. 1.
the furface of the earth was become dry and folid for nl"
his fupport, and covered over with graft and flowers, Gen. ch. 1.
with plants and herbs, and trees of all kinds, for his and part or
pleafure and fuftenance ; when the glorious firmament of,- '_^
heaven, and the beautiful fyftem of the fun, moon, and ~ *~
ftars, were laid open for his contemplation, and, by their
powerful influences, appointed to diftinguifh the feafons,
and make the world a fruitful and delicious habitation
for him ; when, laftly, all forts of animals in the fea, in
the air, and on the earth, were fo ordered and difpofed, as
to contribute, in their feveral capacities, to his benefit and
delight : when all thefe things, I fay, were, by the care
and providence of God, prepared for the entertainment of
this principal gueft, it was then that man was created, and
introduced into the world in a manner and folemnity not
unbecoming the lord and governor of it. To this purpofe
we may obferve, that God makes a manifeft diftinction be-
tween him and other creatures, and feems to undertake
the creation, even of his body, with a kind of mature de-
liberation, if not confultation with the other perfons of the
cver-blefled Trinity ; f Let us make man.
However
f Gen. i. 26. The Jevvifli doctors are of opinion, that the con-
fultation was real, and held with fuch angelical beings as God
might employ in the work of man's creation ; and they tell a
dory upon this occafion which feems a little fictitious, viz.
that as Mofes was writing his book by God's appointment, and
thefe words came to be chelated, he refufed to let them down>
crying out, 0 Lord ! wouldfl thou then plunge men in error, and
make the7n doubt of the dotlrine of the unity P Whereupon it was
anfwered by God, / command thee to write, and if any will err,
let them err. Several modern expotitors account it only a ma-
jeflic form of fpeech, as nothing is more common than for
kings and fovereign princes to (peak in the plural number, e-
fpccially when they are giving out any important order or com-
mand. It has been obferved however, that as "there were no
men, and confequently no great men, when this w.is fpoken ;
fo there was no fuch manner of fpeech in ufe among men of
that rank for many ages after Mofes. Their common cuftom
was, in all their public inflruinents and letters (the better to en-
hance the notion of fovereignty) to fpeak in the firit pcrfon, as
it was in our nation not long ago, and is in the kingdom of
Spain to this very day; and therefore, upon the authority of almoft
::11 the fathers- of the church : " Nam base verba Deum Patrem
** ad Filium, etSpiritum San&um, aut faltem ad Filium dbilfe,
R 2 " omnes
1 6 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. r. However this be, it is certain that the force and ener-
„mt. Chru. gy. Q£ tjie exprefiion denotes thus much that the pro-
Gen, ch. i. auction of mankind at firft was fo immediately the work
and part of of Almighty God, that the power of no fubordinate intel-
^ _ _ ligence could be capable of it : that the curious ftructure of
man's body, the accommodation of it to faculties, and
the furnifhing it with faculties that are accommodated to
jt, (even as to its animal life), imports a wifdom and effica-
cy far above the power of any created nature to effect.
And this may poffibly fuggeft the reafon, why, in the for-
mation of his body, God made choice of the duji of the
ground, viz, that from the incongruity of the matter we
might judge of the difficulty, and learn to attribute the
glory of the performance to him alone. And if the crea-
tion of the body of our great progenitor was a work of fo
much divine wifdom and power, we cannot but expect,
that the fpiritual and immaterial nature, the immortal con-
dition, active powers, and free and rational operations,
which, in refemblance of the Divine Being, the foul of
man was to participate, mould require fome peculiar and
extraordinary conduct in its production at firft, and union
with matter afterward : all which is expreffed by God's
breathing into the man s \ noftrils the breath of life, i.e. do-
ing fomething analagous to breathing, (for God has no bo-
dy to breathe with), whereby he infufed a rational and im-
mortal fpirit (for we muft not fuppofe that God gave any
part of his own effence) into the man's head, as the princi-
pal feat thereof; and || man became a living foul.
As.foon as Adam found himfelf alive, and begun to call:
his eyes about him, he could not but perceive that he was
<l omnes fere patres, ab ipfis apoftolorum temporibus, fidenter
*' pronunciant ;" Whitby flruclura patrum. Others have thought,
that this language of Mofes reprefentsGod fpeaking, as he is, i. e.
\xi a plurality of perfons.
X The original word, which our tranflators render noflrihj
fignifes more properly the face or head.
|| It is not to be doubted, but that Eve, the mother of all living,
was created by Almighty God, and infpired with a rational and
immortal foul, the fame day with her buftand ; for fo it is faid,
that in the fixth day, male and female created he them, ver. 27.;
and therefore the hiftorian only reaffumes the argument in the fe-
cond chapter, to give us a moi e full and particular account of the
woman's origin, which was but briefly delivered, or rather indeed
but hinted at in the firft,
m
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 17
in no fmall danger, as being furrounded with a multitude A. M. 1.
of favage creatures, all gazing on him, and (for any thing Ant- chnf-
he knew) ready and difpofed to fall upon and devour him. Qen ji* r
And therefore, to fatisfy his mind in this particular, God and part of
took care to inform him, that all the creatures upon earth cn-
were fubmitted to his authority ; that on them he had im-
preffed an awe and dread of him; had invefted him with
an abfolute power and dominion over them ; and, to con-
vince him of the full pofTeffion of that power, he imme-
diately appointed every creature to appear before him, which
they accordingly did, and, * by their lowly carriage, and
geftures of refpect fuitable to their feveral fpecies, evidenced
their fubmiffion ; and, as they palled along, fuch know-
ledge had Adam then of their feveral properties and deto-
nations, that he affigned them their names, which a fmall
fkill in the Hebrew tongue will convince us, were very pro-
per, and lignincant of their natures..
This furvey of the feveral creatures might poffibly oc-
cafion fome uneafy reflections in Adam, to fee every one
provided with its mate, but himfelf left deftitute of any
companion of a fimilar nature ; and therefore, to anfwer
his defires in this particular likewife, (c) Cod canfed a deep
Jleep to fall upon him, which was intended, not only as an
expedient for the performance of the wonderful operation
upon him without fenfe of pain, * but as a trance, or
extafy
* Milton has exprefled himfelf upon this occafion in the follow-
ing manner :
As thus he fpake, each bird, and bead, behold
Approaching, two and two ; thefe cow'ring low
With bl?ndiihment ; each bird floop'd on his wing.
I nam'd them, as they pafs'd, and underftood
Their nature; with fuch knowledge God endu'd
My fudden apprehenfion. Book 8.
(c) Gen. ii. 21.
* In like manner, he makes this fleep which fell upon Adam
to have been a kind ef trance or extafy, (for fo the LXX tranf-
late it), and thus he relates the occalion and nature of it.
He ended, and I heard no more; for now
My earthly by his heavenly over-power'd,
Which it had long flood under, ftrain'd to th' height
In that ccleflial colloquy fublime,
(As with an object that excels the fenfe, >
Dazzled and (pent), funk down, and fought relief
Of deep, which inltantly fell on me, call'd
By nature as in aid, and clos'd my eyes.
Mine eyes he clos'd, but open left the cell Of
iS The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. extafy likewife, wherein was repi-efented to his imagination,
" "'4004 koth wnat was done to him, and what was the myftical
Gen. ch. r. meaning of it, and whereby he was prepared for the re-
and part ofception of that divine oracle (d) concerning the facred in-
^'_1' _, ftitution of marriage, which prefently, upon his awaking,
^^T ]ie uttered.
While Adam continued in this fleep, God, who, with
the fame facility wherewith he made him, could have form-
ed the woman out of the dufi of the earth, (being willing to
fignify that equality and partnerfhip, that love and union,
and tendernefs of endearment, which ought to interfere
between hufband and wife), took part of the fubftance of
the man's body, \ near his fide, and doling up the orifice
again, out of that fubftance he f 'formed the body of Eve,
and then breathing into her the breath of life, made her, in
like manner, become a living foul.
This was the * concluilve aft of the whole creation :
and upon a general furvey of fuch harmony rifen from
principles
Of fancy, my internal fight ; by which
(Abftract as in a trance) methought I faw,
Though lleeping, where I lay, and faw the fhape
Still glorious, before whom awake I flood
Under his forming hands a creature grew
Man-like, but different fex; fo lovely fair, t
That what feem'd fair in all the world, feem'd now
Mean, or in her fumm'd up, in her contain'd,
And in her looks, which from that time infus'd
Sweetnefs into my heart, unfek before ;
And into all things from her air infpir'd
The fpirit of love, and amorous delight. Bcok 8.
(d) Gen. ii. 23.
% As the original word does not {Irictly fignify a rib, and is all
along rendered by the LXX jrL'vpa, fo I thought it not improper
to give it that conflrnclion, thereby to cut off from infidels an oc-
casion for raillery, and to fpare them all their wit about the re-
dundant or defective rib of Adam.
f The original word fignifies building or framing any thing with
a fingular care, contrivance, and proportion; and hence our bodies
are in Scripture frequently called koufes, Job iv. 19. ; 2 Cor. v. 1. ;
and fometimes tcmpL-s, John ii. 15. ; I Cor. iii. 16.
* It is not very neccflary to determine at what feafon of the
year the world was made ; yet it feems moil probable, that it
was about the autumnal equinox, and that not only becaufe the
trees were laden then with fruit, as the hiftory tells us our firfl
parents did eat of them j but becaufe the Jews did then begin their
civil
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 19
principles fo jarring and repugnant, and fo beautiful a varie- ^ M. r.
ty and compofition of things from a mere mafs of con- u* C1
j r o 4.00*1.
fuflon and diforder, God was pleated with the work of his Gen. ch. r.
hands ; and having pronounced it good, or properly adapt- and part of
ed to the ufes for which it was intended, he refledfrom all
his work, i. e. he ceafed to produce any more creatures, as
having accomplifhed his defign, and anfwered his original
idea ; and thereupon he * fanctified, and fet apart the next
enfuing
civil year {viz, in the month Tifri, which anfwers to part of our
September and October) from whence their fabbatical and jubilee
years did likewife commence, Exod. xxiii. 16. xxxiv. 22.;
Lev. xxv. 9. The month Abib (which anfwers to part of our
March and April) had indeed the honour afterwards to be reckon-
ed among the J ews the beginning of their year in ecclefiaftical
matters, becaufe the children of Ifrael, on that month, came
out of the land of Egypt ; but from the very creation, the
month Tifri was always counted the firfl of their civil year, be-
caufe it was die general opinion of die ancients, that the world
was created at the time of the autumnal equinox ; and for this
reafon, the Jews do dill, in the aera of the creation, as well
as in that of contra&s, and other inftruments, compute the begin-
ning of their year from the lirft day of Tifri, Herein, how-
ever, the Jews differ from us ; that whereas they make the
world only 3 760, molt of the Chriftian chronologers will have it
to be much about 4000 years older than Chrift ; fo that by them
5732 years, or thereabouts, are thought a moderate computation
•f the world's antiquity. Vid. Ulher's annals ; Bedford's chro-
nology ; and Shuckfoord's connection.
* Whether the inftitution of the Sabbath was from the begin-
ning of the world, and one day in feven always obferved by the
patriarchs, before the promulgation of the law ; or whether the
fanclification of the feventh day is related only by way of anti-
cipation, as an ordinance not to take place until the introduc-
tion of the Jewifh ceconomy, is a matter of fome debate among
the learned ; but I think with little or no reafon ; for when we
confidcr, that as foon as the facred penman had faid, Cod ended
hisuaotky and reft ed, he adds immediately, in the words of the
fame tenfe, he b/effed the feventh day, and fanclified 'it ; when we
compare this pallage in Genefis with the twentieth chapter
ot Exodus, wherein Mofes fpeaks of God's bleffing and/antfifying
the Sabbath, not as an act then firft done, but as what he had for-
merly done upon the creation of the world ; when we remem-
ber, that all the patriarchs from Adam to Mofes had fet times
for their folcmn aUcmblies, and that thefc times were weekly,
and of divine inftitution ; that upon the return of thefc wcek-
S-ibbaihs, .
20 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. cnfuing day, (which was the feventh from the beginning of
Ant. Clinf- the creation, and the firft of Adam's life), as a time of
Gen. ch. i. folemn reft and rejoicing for ever after, to be obferved and
and part of expended in acts of praife and religious worfhip, and in
commemoration of the infinite wifdom, power, and good-
nefs of God, in the world's creation.
againft Mo-
fes's ac-
count of the
creation ;
The Objection
~DUT how great foever the difplay of the divine at-
tributes may feem in the glorious works of the
creation, yet Mofes, one would think, is far from en-»
deavouring to give us the moft advantageous reprefenta-
tion of them. To fpeak the world into being at once,
and in an inftant, had been more agreeable to the no-
tions we have of an almighty power, than the fpinning
it out into fo many days labour. But allowing this fuc-
ceffion of time to have been real, what a fad blunder
does the hiftorian make, even at his firft fetting out, when
he talks of light, before there was any fuch thing as the
fun, and of the moon's being a great light, when eve-
ry body knows it to be an opaque body ; when he dis-
tributes the whole work into fuch unequal proportions,
and accounts for fome parts of it, in a manner inconfift-
ent with the wifdom of its maker. For on the firft
day, to have no more to do than what might be dif-
patched in the twinkling of an eye, but on the third,
to have all the waters of the abyfs drained off, and broad
channels dug for the reception of the fea ; to have the
fun, moon, and other planets, together with the ftars,
(a vaft number of immenfe bodies !), all made on the
fourth ; and when one piece of clay would have done
for both, to have two diftincl: creations for our firft pa-
rents ; and (what is worft of all) in the hurry of the
Sabbaths, very probably it was, that Cain and Abel offered their
refpe&ive facrifices to God ; and that Noah, the only righteous
perfou among the Antediluvians, Abraham, the moft faithful fer-
vant of God after the flood, and Job, that perfect and upright
man, -who feared God, and ej chewed evil, are all fuppofed to have
obferved it ; we cannot but think, that the day whereon the
work of the creation was concluded, from the very beginning of
time, was every week (until men had corrupted their ways)
kept holy, as being the birth day ofthi -world, (as Philo De mundi
•pificio ftyles it), and the univerfal jeftival of mankind; Bed-
ford's Scripture- chronology, and Patricks commentary.
" work
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 2 1
" work (for the fixth day, being the winding up of all, A. M. r.
" was a day of great hurry), to forget the creation of the Ant- chnf-
• r 1 1- 1 • r 1 n r 1 4004.
" poor woman s ioul, to lay nothing or the itrange jub- Qea% ^ K
" ftratum of her body: Thefe, and feveral other particu- and part of
" lars, are enough to make us fufpe£t the physical truth ch- z-
" of our author's cofmogony, and to pronounce it not
" much better than what we meet with in the theology, or
" hiitories of other ancient nations."
(c) Where waft thou, when I laid the foundations cf, {bewirie
the earth P Declare if thou haft under/landing. Whereupon that a gra"
are the foundations thereof f aft ened, and who laid the corner c,ual a»d
Jione thereof ? is a queftion very proper to be put to ,^^0 ve
thofe who demand a reafon for the aftions of God : for comported
if they cannot comprehend the Works themfelves, they are ,jeft with
certainly very culpable in inquiring too buiily into the time LC;C f *? °
and manner of his doing them. But (to gratify the inqui-
iitive for once) though we do not deny, that all things are
equally eaiy to almighty power, yet it pleafed the divine
architect to employ the fpace of fix days in the gradual
formation of the world, becaufe he forelaw, that fuch pro-
cedure would be a means conducive to the better inllruc-
tion both of men and angels. Angels (as we hinted before)
were very probably created, when the fupreme heavens were
made, at leaft fome considerable time before the produc-
tion of this viiible world. Now, though they be great and •
glorious beings, yet frill they are of a finite nature, and
unable to comprehend the wonderful works of God. There
are fome things (as (f) the apoftle tells us) that thefe ce- ■
leflial creatures deft re to lock into ; and the more they «are
let into the knowledge and wifdom of God, the more they
are incited to praife him. (g) That therefore they might
not want fufficient matter for this heavenly exercife, the
whole fcene of the creation, according to the feveral de-
grees and nature of things, feems to have been laid open in
order before them, that thereby they might have a more-
full and comprehenlive view of the divine attributes there-
in exhibited, than they could have had, in cafe the world
had Started forth in an inftant, or jumped (as it were) into
this beautiful frame and order all at once ; juft as he who
fees the whole texture and contrivance of any curious
piece of art, values and admires tire artjft more, than he
who beholds it in the grol's only.
(f) Job. xxxviii. 4 6. (/) I Pet. i. ri. (g) Jen-
kins's reafonabkaefs of the Chriitian religion.
Vol. I. S God
22 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. God was therefore pleafed to clifplay his glory before the
Ant. Chrif. angels, and by feveral fteps and degrees, excite their
4004. ovaife anti love, and admiration, which moved them to
and part oKon.gs and.fhouts or* joy. By this meansj his glory, and
ch. z. their happinefs were advanced, far beyond what it \\*)uld
'have been, had all things been created, and ranged in their
proper order in a moment. By this means they had time
to look into their firfc principles and feeds of all creatures,
both animate and inanimate, and every day prefented them
with a glorious fpecbacle of new wonders ; fo that the more
they faw, the more they knew, and the more they know
of the works of God, the more they for ever love and adore
him. But this is not all.
By this fucceiiive and gradual creation of things, in
the lpace of fix days, the glory of God is likewife more
manifeft to man, than it would have been, had they been
made by a fudden and inftantaneous production. The
heavens, and all the hojl of them, we may fuppofe, were
made in an initant, becaufe there were then perhaps no ci-
ther creatures to whom God might difplay the glory of
his works ; but as they were made in an inftant, we have
little or no perception of the manner wherein they were
made : but now, in this ieifurely procedure of the earth's
formation, we fee, as it were, every thing arifing out of
the primordial mafs, firft the fimple elements, and then the
compounded and more curious creatures, and are led, ftep
by ftep, full of wonder and admiration, until we fee the
whole compleated. So that, in condefcenfion to our ca-
pacity, it was, that God divided the creation into ftated
periods, and prolonged /the fuccefhon of what .he could
have done in fix moments, to the term of fix days, that
we might have clearer notions of his eternal power and
godhead, and every particular day of the week, new
and particular works, for which we are to praife him. And
this, by the by, fuggefts another argument, founded on the
mftitution of the Sabbath-day: For if, infix days, the
Lord made heaven and earth, and, rejiing on the feventh
day, did blefi and fanaify it, this feems to imply, that
God obliged himfelf to continue the work of the creation
for fix day?, that (hewing himfelf (if I may fo fay) a di-
vine example of weekly labour, and fabbatical reft, he
might more effectually fignify to mankind, what tribute of
iluiy he would require of them, viz. that one day in fe-
ver, abftaining from buiinefs and worldly labour, they
ihoukl
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 23
fhould devote and confecrate it to his honour, and religious a. m. r.
worfhip. Ant. Chrif,
There is therefore no neceffitv of dei^arting from the _ 40a*'
o Crcn. en. 1.
literal fenle of" the Scripture in this particular. The reite- awj part oi
rated acts, and the different operations mentioned by Mofes, ch. 2.
ought indeed to be explained in fuch a manner, as is con- **—*" V— -*
lift ent with the infinite power, and perfect iimplicky of the
acts of God, and in luch a manner, as may exclude all
notions of weaknefs, wearinels, or imperfection in him ;
but all this may be done without receding from a fuccefiive
creation, which redounds fo much to the glory of God,
and affords the whole intelligent creation fo fair a field for
contemplation.
Some of the Jewifh doctors are of opinion, that in the Why light
firft dav, when God created light, at the fame time, he before the
formed and compacted it into a fun ; and that the fun is
mentioned again on the fourth day, merely by way oi" re-
petition ; while others maintain, that this light was a cer-
tain luminous body (not unlike that which conducted the.
children of Ifrael in the wildernefs) that moved round the
world, until the day wherein the fun is created. But
there is no occalion for fuch conjectures as thefe : every
one knows, that darknefs has, in all ages, been the chief
idea which men have had of a chaos. (//) Both poets
and philofophers have made Nox, and Erelus, and T<ir~
tarus, the principal parts and ingredients of its defcription ;
and therefore it feems very agreeable to the reafon of man^
kind, that the firft remove from the chaos ihouid be a
tendency to light. But then by light (as it was produced
the firft day), we muft not uncleritand the darting of rays
from a luminous b«dy, fuch as do now proceed from the
fun, (i) but thofe particles of matter only, which we call
fire, (whofe properties we know are light and beat), which
the Almighty produced, as a proper inftrument for the pre-
paration, and digeftion of all other matter. For fire, be-
ing naturally a ftrong and reftlefs clement, when once it was
dulntangled and fet free, would not ceafe to move, and
agitate, from top to bottom, the whole heavy and con-
fufed mafs, until the purer and more fhining pares of it
being feparated from the grofler, and fo uniting together,
(as things of the fame fpecies naturally do), did conftitute
that light, which, on the fourth day, was more comprcficd
and confolidated, and fo became the body of the fun.
(h) Patrick's comment, in locum, (/) Nicholls's conference,
vol. 1.
S 2
24 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, BookL
A. M. r. The author of the Book of Wifdom telis us indeed, that
Ant. Chnf. (£) Q0d ordered all things in mcafa.re, and number, and
Gen. ch. t Weight ; but we cannot from hence infer, that in the
and part ofhexemeron, he was fo niece and curious, as to weigh out
ch. 2. to himfelf in gold fcales (as it were) his daily work by
C71 -1VT*'^ grains and fcruples. We indeed, who are linite crea-
pordon in tur-s> may talk of the heat and burthen of the day, and,
the work ofin a weekly talk, are forced to proportion the labour of
each day. each day to the prefent condition of our ftrength ; but
this is the cafe of human infirmity, and no way compa-
tible to God. To omnipotence nothing can be laborious,
nor can there be more or lefs of pains, where all things
are equally eafy. But, in the mean time, how does it ap-
pear, that even, in human conception, the work of the
third day, which confided in draining the earth, and flock-
ing it with plants ; or even of the fourth day, wherein the
fun and moon, and other planets were made, was more
difficult, than that of the firft, which is accounted the iim-
pie production of light ?
The compafs of the chaos (as we fuppofed) took up the
whole foliar fyfrem, or that (pace, which Saturn circum-
fcribes m his circulation round the fun : and if fo, what a
prodigious thing was it, to give motion to this vaft un-
weiluly mafs, and tc direct that motion in fome fort of
regularity ; in the general ftruggle and cumbuftion, to
unite things that were no ways akin, and to fort the
promifcuous elements into their proper fpecies ; to give the
properties of reft and gravitation to one kind, and of a-
fcenfion and eiafticity to another ; to make fome parts fub~
fide and fettle themfelves, not in one continued folid, but
in feveral different centres, at proper diftances from each
other, and fo lay the foundation for the planets ; to make
others afpire and mount on high, and having obtained their
liberty by hard conflict, join together, as it were, by com-
pact, and make up one body, which, by the tenuity of its
part:, and rapidity of its motion, might produce light
and heat, and fo lay the foundation for the fun ; to place
this luminous body in a fituation proper to influence the
upper parts of the chaos, and to be the inftrument of ra-
refaction, feparaticn, and all the reft of the operations to
enfae ; to caufe it, when thus placed, either to circulate
xound the whole planetary fyftern, or to make the planetary
globes to turn round it, in order to produce the viciflitudes
pf day and night > to do all this, and more than this, I
.(/Q'Wifd. xi. 20.
(m
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 25
fay, as it is included in the fingle article of creating light A- M- '•
is enough to make the firft day, wherein nature was utterly 4'oo4
impotent, (as having motion then firft imprefTed upon her), Gen. ch. ir
a day of more labour and curious contrivance than any fub-^dpartof
fequent one could be, when nature was become more awake ^L* ■
and active, and fome alliftance might poffibly be expected
from the inftrumentality of fecond caufes.
To excavate fome parts of the earth, and raife others, i*How chan-
order to make the waters fubfide into proper channels, is nels for the
thought a work not lb comporting with the dignity an^ ^ m ^
majefty of God; and therefore * fome have thought thatma(je>
it polTibly might have been effected by the fame caufes
that occalion earthquakes, i. e. by fubterraneous fires and
llatufes. What incredible effects the accenfion of gun-
powder has, we may fee every day; how it rends rocks,
and blows up the moft ponderous and folid walls, towers,
and edifices, fo that its force is almoft irrefiftible. And
why then might not fuch a proportionable quantity of the 4
like materials, fet on fire together, raife up the mountains,
(how great and weighty foever), and the whole fuperficies of
the earth above the waters, amd fo make receptacles for
Aem to tun into. (/) Thus we have a* channel for the
fea, even by the intervention of fecond caufes : nor are we
deftitute of good authority to patronize this notion ; for,
after that the Pfalmift had faid, the waters Jiand above the
mountains, immediately he lubjoins, at thy rebuke they fled,
at the voice of thy thunder (an earthquake, we know, is but
a fubterraneous thunder) they hailed away, and went down
to the valley beneath, even unto the place which thou hadjl ap-
pointed to them.
However this be, it is probable, and (if our hypofhefisThe work
(m) be right) it is certain, that on the fourth day, the fun ° th^
j 1 11 j 1 • u • r fourtn day
moon, and planets, were pretty well advanced in their tor- not difpro-
mation. The luminous matter extracted from the chaos onportiona-
the firft day, being a little more condenfed, and put intobly Sreat-
a proper orb, became the fun, and the planets had all along
been working off, in the fame degrees of progreffion with
* This we may conceive to have been effected by fome particles
of fire ftill left in the bowels of the earth, whereby fuch nitro-
fulphureous vapours were kindled, as made an earthquake, which
both lifted up the earth, and alfo made receptacles for the waters
to run into ; Patrick's Comment.
(I) Pfal. civ. 6. 7. 8. (m) Ray's Wifdora of God in the
tion.
26 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
a M ' h r^ie eart^ > *° ****$ tne lahour of this day could not be fo
40O4n " difproportionably great as is imagined. It is true indeed,
Gen. ch. i.the Scripture tells us, that God on this day, not only made
and part of the fun and the moon, but that he made the jiars alfo ;
f_ _jan^> confidering the almoft infinite number of thefe hea-
* venly bodies, (which we may difcern with our eyes, and
sauch more with glafles), we cannot but fay, that a com-
putation of this kind would fwell the work of the fourth
day to a prodigious difproportion : but then we are to ob-
serve, that our Englilh tranflation has interpolated the
words [he made'], which are not in the original; for
the fimple verfion of the Hebrew is this and (n) God
made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day,
and the leffer light to rule the night and the Jiars : which
Iaft words {and the Jiars] are not to be referred to the
word \jnade] in the beginning of the verfe, but to the
word [rule], which immediately goes before them : and
* lb this fentence, the leffer light to rule the night, and the
Vhv the Jiars' r will only denote the peculiar ufefulnefsand pre-
moo'n may dominancy of the moon above all other ftars or planets,
be called a ;n refpeft 0f xh\s eartlt of t)urs ; in which fenfe it may
fa ' not improperly be ftyled (as * fome of the nroft polite^
authors are known to call it) the ruler of the night,
and a queen, or goddefs, as it were, among the Jiars. '•
With regard to us therefore, who are the inhabitants of the
earth, the moon, though certainly an opaque body, may
not be improperly called a great light', fince, by reafon of
its proximity, it communicates more light, (not of its own
indeed, but what it borrows from the fun), and is of more
ufe and benefit to us than all the other planets put toge-
ther. Nor muft we forget (what indeed deierves a peculiar
obfervation) that the moon (o), by its conftant deviations
towards the poles, affords a ftronger and more lafting light
to the inhabitants of thofe forlorn regions, whofe long and
tedious nights are of fome days, nay, of fome months
continuance, than jf its motion were truly circular, and
the rays it reflects confequently more oblique, A mighty
comfort and refrefhment this to them, and a lingular in-
(») Gen. i 16.
*. Lucidum cceli decus — fydernm retina bicornis; Hor.
Aftrovum decus ; Virg JEn. — Obfcuri c!ea clara mundi ; Se~
neca Hip. Arcana moderatrix Cynthia noctis ; Statins Tkeb.
— Phceben imitantem hunina fratris
Semper, et in proprio regnantem tempore licctis ; LlaniL
(?) Derham's Ailro-tlieology, ch. 4.
{lance
Chap I. from the Creation to the Flood. 27
ftance of the great Creator's wifdom in contriving, and A. M. 1.
mercy in preferving all his works ! Ant- ChnC
St. Paul, in his epiftle to the Romans, makes all man- Gen. ch. r.
kind (as certainly our ficft parent literally was) clay in the and pan of
hands of the potter, and thereupon he alks this queftion ; CA- 2-
(p) Nay but, 0 man, who art thou, that repliejl againjl \yh7*7he
God? Shall the thing formed fay to him that formed itf woman was
why haft thou formed me thus P Hath not the potter power mide of a
tver the clay, of the fame lump to make one vefl'el unto
honour, and another unto di/honour ? It but badly becomes
us therefore to inquire into the reafon that might induce
God to make the man and the woman at different times,
and of different materials ; and it is an impertinent, as well
as impious banter, to pretend to be fo frugal of his pains.
What if God, willing to {hew a pleaiing variety in his
works, condefcended to have the matter, whereof the
woman was formed, pals twice through his hands, in or-
der to * foften the temper, and meliorate the compoiition ?
Some peculiar qualities, remarkable in the female fex,
znight perhaps juftify this fuppolition: but the true reafon,
as I take it, is couched in thefe words of Adam (q), This
is now bone of my bones, and jlefh of my flefb ; floe fhall
(p) Rom. ix. 20 2i.
* Milton has given us a very curious defcription of Eve's qua-
lifications, both in body and mind.
Though well I underftand, in the prime end
Of nature, her th' inferior in the mind,
And inward faculties, which moll excel ;
In outward alfoher refembling lefs
His image, who made both, and lefs exprcfling
The character of that dominion ir'iv'n
O er other creatures; yet when I approach
Her lovclinefs, fo abfolute (he feems,
So in herfelf compleat, fo well to know
Her own, that what lhe wills to do, or fay,
Seems wifeft, virtuoufeft, difcreeteft, belt.
All higher knowledge in her prefence falls
Degraded, wifdom in difcourfe with her
Lofcs difconntcnane'd, and like folly fhews. ,
Authority and reafon on her wait,
As one intended lirft, but after made
Oecaiionally ; and, to confummate all,
Greatnefs of mind, and noblcnefs their feat
Build in her lovelieft, and create an awe
About her, as a guard angelic plac'd. Book S.
•'<?) Gen. ii. 23. 24.
• be
28 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book L
A. M. i. be called \ woman, becaufe /he was taken out of 'man ; there-
forefhall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave ts
Gen. ch. i. his wife, and they fhall be one jlefh.
and part of Since God was determined then to form the woman out
f _ of fome part of the man's body, and might probably have
""^ a myftical meaning in ib doing; to have taken her (like the
poets Minerva) out of the head, might have intided her to
a fuperiority which he never intended for her ; to have
made her of any inferior, or more difhonourable part,
would not have agreed with that equality to which die was
appointed ; and therefore he took her out of the man's fide,
to denote the obligations to the ftricteft friendfhip and fo-
ciety ; to beget the ftrongeft love and fympathy between
him and her, as parts of the fame whole ; and to recom-
mend marriage to all mankind, as founded in nature, and
as the re-union of man and woman.
"Why the It is an eafy matter to be fceptical ; but fmall reafon, I
-woman s think, there is to wonder, why no mention is made in this
mentioned place of the infpiration of the woman's foul. What the
in the works hiftorian means here, is only to reprefent a peculiar cir-
«t creation, cumftance in the woman's compofition, viz. . her affump-
tion from the man's fide : and therefore what relates to the
creation of her foul mult be pi-efumed to go before, and is
indeed fignified in the preface God makes before he begins
the work; (r) It is not good that manjhould be alone,- I will
make him an help-meet for him, i. e. of the fame (s) efTential
qualities with himfelf. For we cannot conceive of what
great comfort this woman would have been to Adam, had
' ihe not been endowed with a rational part, capable of con-
verfing with him ; had ihe not had, I fay, the fame un-
derftanding, will, and affeclions, though perhaps in a low-
er degree, and with fome accommodation to the weaknefs
of her fex, in order to recommend her beauty, and to en-
dear that foftnefs wherein (as I hinted before) fhe had
certainly the pre-eminence.
The ritti- Such is the hiftory which Mofes gives us of the origin
cuious ac- of the world, and the production of mankind: and if we
c"u.n,ts , fhould now compare it with what we meet with in other
■w-ucn other . , i r 1 r n 11 r
»i;ions^i.-enatlons recorded of theie great events, we mall loon per-
il, of the ceive, that it is the only rational and philofophical account
creation. extanr . which, coniidering the low ebb that learning was
-J- Anus Monranus renders the Hebrew word virago, in the
margin virijfa, i. e. fhe-man.
(r) Gen. ii. 18. (j) So the original word rnesns, and fo
the vulgsr Latia has tranflatcd it.
at
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood- 29
at in the Jewifh nation, is no fmall argument of its drvmeA. M. t.
revelation. What a wretched account was that of the E- nt"
4004.
gyptians, (from whence the Epicureans borrowed their hy- Gen. ch. 1.
potheiis), that the world was made by chance, and man- and part of
kind grew out of the earth like pumkir.s ? What ftrange01'
ftories does the Grecian theology tell us of "oufavof and r»,
Jupiter and Saturn ; and what fad work do their ancient
writers make, when they come to form men and women
out of projected Hones ? How unaccountably does the Phoe-
nician hiftorian (t) make a dark and windy air the principle
of the univerfe; all intelligent creatures to be formed alike
in the ihape of an egg, and both male and female awa-*
kened into life by a great thunder-clap ? The Chinefe are
accounted a wife people, and yet the articles of their creed
are fuch as theie ■■-—■- That one Tayn, who lived in hea-
ven, and was famous for his wifdom, dilpofed the parts of
the world into the order we find them ; that xhe created
out of nothing the firft Ria.il Panfon, and his wife Panfone ;
that this Panfon, by a power from Tayn, created another
man called Tanhom, who was a great naturalift, and thir-
teen men more, by whom the world was peopled, till, after
a while, the iky fell upon the earth, and deftroyed them
all; but that the wife Tayn afterwards created another man,
called Lotziram, who had two horns, and an odoriferous
body, and from whom proceeded feveral men and women,
who ftocked the world with the prefent inhabitants. But,
of all others, the Mahometan account is tbe mo ft ridicu-
lous ; for it tells us, that the firft things which were crea-
ed, were the Throne of God, * Adam, Pdradife, and zgrfAt
pen, wherewith God wrote his decrees: that this throne
was
(/) Fid. Cumberland's Sanchoniatho.
* As to the formation of Adam's body, the Mahometans tell
us many flrange circumftances, viz. That after Cod, by long
continued rains, had prepared the flime of the earth, out of
which he was to fo;m it, he fent the angel Gabriel, and com-
manded him, of (even lays of earth, to take out of each an band-
itti: that upon Gabriel's coming to the Earth, he told her, that
God had determined to extract that out of her bowels, whereof •
he propofed to make man, who was to be fiwjereign over all, and
his vicegerent: that, furprifed at this news, the Earth defired
Gabriel to reprelent her fears to God, that this creature, wl
he was going to make in this manner, would one d y rebel a-
gamft him, and draw down his curfe upon her: that Gahiiel
returned, and made a report to God of the Earth's mnonilran-
ces; but God rcfolving to execute hisdefign, difpatched Michael,
Vol. I. T and
Mofes.
30 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. 1. was carried about upon angels necks, whofe heads were fo
Ant. Clu»-big, that birds could not fly in a thoufand years from one
Cen°X. 1. ear to another ; that the heavens were propped up by the
and part of mountain I Coff; that the liars were firebrands, thrown a-
ch. 2. ,gainft the devils when they invaded heaven, and that the
*v~'— earth ftands upon the top of a great cow's horn ; that this
cow ftands upon a white ftone, this ftone upon a mountain,
and this mountain upon God knows what ; with many more
abfurdities of the like nature.
, j .-, Thefe are fome accounts of the world's creation,
Ana ttie . . r _ . *
juftnefs of which nations of great lagacity in other relpects have at
that of le-xft pretended to believe. But alas ! how fordid and trifling
are they, in comparifon of what we read in the book of
Geneils, where every thing is eafy and natural, comporting
with God's majefty, and not repugnant to the principles of
philofophy ? Nay, where every thing agrees with the po-
iitions of the greateft men in the Heathen Avorld, * the fen-
timents of their wileft philofophers, and the defcriptions of
their
and afterwards Afraphel, with the fame commiffion s that thefe
two angels returned in like manner to report the Earth's excufes,
and abfolute refufal to contribute to this work ; whereupon he de-
puted Azrael, who, without faying any thing to the Earth, took an
handful out of each of the feven different lays or beds, and car-
ried it to a place in Arabia, between Mecca and Taief : that af-
ter the angels had mixed and kneaded the earth which Azrael
brought, God, with his own hand, formed out of it an human
ftatue, and having left it in the fame place for fome time to dry,
not long after communicating his fpirit, or enlivening breath, in-
filled life and understanding into it ; and cloathing it in a wonder-
ful drefs, fuitable to its dignity, commanded the angels to fall
proftrate before it, which Eblis (by whom they mean Lucifer)
refuiing to do, was immediately driven out of paradife. A. B The
difference of the earth employed in the formation of Adam, is of
great fervice to the Mahometans in explaining the different colours
and qualities of mankind who are deiivcd from it, fome of whom
are white, others black, others tawny, yellow, olive-colcured,
and red ; fome of one humour, inclination, and complexion, and
others of a quite different; Caiwet's Dictior.ary on the word
Adam.
* Thales, qnem primum Graeci putant rerum naturalium can-
fas efle rimatum, mundum opus tile Dei, Deumqne antiquiffi-
mum elfc rerum omnium, utpote onus expertem, afferit. Fjtha*
gore s, cum mundi hujus rabricam et ornatum ccntemplaret, videri
libi, aiebat, audire vocem illam £)ei, gtiaexiftere juifus eft. Plato
non
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 31
their moft renowned poets. So that were we to judge ofA- M. 1.
Mofes at the bar of reafon, merely as an hiftorian ; had we nt' "
none of thofe fupernatural proofs of fhe divinity of his Gen. ch. 1.
writings, which fet them above the fphere of all human and part of
compolition ; had his works none of that manifeft advan-^" :
tage of antiquity above all others we ever yet faw ; and
were we not allowed to prefume, that his living near the
time which he makes the sera of the world's creation, gave
him great affiftances in point of tradition ; were we, I fay,
to wave all this that might be alledged in his behalf; yet
the very manner of his treating the fubject gives him a pre-
ference above all others. Nor can we, without, admiration,
fee a perfon who had none of the fyftems before him which
we now fo much value, giving us a clearer idea of things,
in the way of an eafy narrative, than any phiiofopher, with
all his hard words and new-invented terms, has yet been
able to do ; and, in the compafs of two fhort chapters, com-
prtilng all that has been advanced with reafon, even from
his own time to this very day.
DISSERTATION I.
The ivifdom of God in the works of the creation.
THOUGH the author of the Pentateuch (a) never once
attempts to prove the being of a God, as taking it all
a-long for a thing undeniable ; yet it may not be improper
for us, in this place, to take a curfory view of the works
of the creation, (as far at leaft as they come under the Mo-
faic account), in order to fhew the exiftence, the wifdom,
the greatnefs, and the goodnefs of their almighty Maker.
Let us then caft our eyes up to the firmament, where The being
the rich handy -work of God prefents itfelf to our light, and a"^vlfdom
' A , ° ofGodpro-
. r ved from
non ex asterna materia, fuique coxquali, Deum mundum compe- the make
gifle ratus eft, fed eduxilfe ex nihilo, folaquc fua voluntate ad id and motion
egniife, neque folum a Deo, fed ad Dei limilitudinem faclum efle °* heavenly
hominem, et animos noftxos Deo clfe cognatos et iimiles, eidemPla- ° ies'
toni notuin fuit. Vocandi quoque ad partes poct^ •• inter Latinos
Virgilius, cum canentem inducit Silenum, ut coaJlis rerum femi-
nibus mundi tener orbis concrevcrit ; prcccipue Ovidius, cam cce-
li terraeque narrat ortum, hominifquc ad Dei eiligiem conficl:i ;
et, inter Graecos, imprimis Hejiodus, qui rerum omnium rn.acb.i-
nationem, fuaviffimis carminibus, Mofaicas doftrinse confonis, in
Thcogonia, celebravit ; Huetii Alnetana Qu it Jl tones.
(a) Vid. Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. L 3. c. 1.
T 3 ad;
s 2 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
a. M. i. afk ourf elves fome fuch queftions as thefe. What power
Ant. Chrif. fc.^i^ 0yer our heads, this vaft and magnificent arch, and
Gen. ch. i.fpread out tks heavegs like a curtain ? Who garnifhed thefe
and part offieavens with filch a variety of ihining objects, a thoufand,
and ten thoufand times ten thoufand different ftars, new
fans, new moons, new worlds, in comparifon of which
this earth of ours is but a point, ail regular in their mo-
tion", aid fwi niimg in their liquid sether ? Who painted
the clouds with fuch a variety of colours, and in fuch di-
veriity of fliades and figures, as is not in the power of the
fineft pencil to emulate ? Who formed the fun of fuch a de-
terminate fizs, and placed it at fuch a convenient diftance,
as not to annoy, but only refrelh us, and nourif lithe ground
with its kindly warmth ? If it were larger, it would fet the
earth on fire ; if iefs, it would leave it frozen : if it were
nearer us, we ihould be fcorched to death; if farther from
us, we Ihould not be able to live for want of heat : who
then hath made it fo commodious (3) a tabernacle (I fpeak
with the Scriptures, and according to the common notion)
out of which it comet h forth, every morning, like a bride-
groom out of his chamber, and rcjoicclh, as a giant, to run his
courfe ? For fo many ages pa ft, it never failed riling at its
appointed time, nor once miffed fending out the dawn to
proclaim its approach : but at whole voice does it arife,
and by whofe hand is it directed in its diurnal and annual
courlc, to give us the biefTed viciffitudes of the day and
night, and the regular fucceliion or different feafons ? That
it mould always proceed in the fame ftrait path, and never
once be known to ftep afide ; that it fhould turn at a certain
determinate point, and not go forward in a fpace where
there is nothing to obitruct it; that it Ihould traverfe the
fame path back again in the fame conftant and regular pace,
to bring on the feafons by gradual advances ; that the moon
ihould iiipply the office of the fun, and appear at fet times,
to illuminate the air, an- 1 give a vicarious light, when its
brother is gone to carry the day to the other hemisphere :
(c) that it fhould procure, or at leaft regulate the fluxes
and refluxes of the fea, whereby the water is kept in con-
ftant motion, and fo preferved from putrefaction, and ac-
commodated to man's manifold conveniencies, befides the
bufinefs of fifhing, and the ufe of navigation : in a word,
that the reft of the planets, and all the innumerable hoft of
(i) Pfal. xix. 4. $. (c) Ray's Wifdom of God in the
creation.
heavenly
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 33
heavenly bodies fhould perform their ceurfes and revolu-A. M. 1.
tions, with ib much certainty and exachiefs, as never once Aut- chr,~
to fail, but, for almoft this 6000 years, come conftantly Ge*°° £ x
about in the fame period, to the hundredth part of a mi- and pan of
irate ; this is fuclv a clear and inconteftable proof of a divinech- *■
architect, and of that counfel and wifdom wherewith he
rules and directs the univerfe, as made the Roman philofo-
pher, with good reafon, conclude, " That (d) whoever
" imagines, that the wonderful order, and incredible
" conftancy of the heavenly bodies, and their motions
" (whereupon the prefervation and welfare of all things
" do depend) is not governed by an intelligent being, him-
" felf is deftkute of underftanding. For lhall we, when
" we fee an artificial engine, a fphere, a dial, for in-
" fiance, acknowledge, at fir ft fight, that it is the work
" of art and underftanding; and yet, when we behold the
" heavens, moved and whirled about with an incredible
f* velocity, mo ft conftantly finifhing their anniverfary vi-
" ciflitudes, make any doubt, that thefe are the perform-
" ances, not only of reafon, but of a certain excellent and
" divine reafon ?"
And if Tully, from the very imperfect knowledge of a-
ftronomy, which his time afforded, could be fo confident,
that the heavenly bodies were framed, and moved by a wife-
and underftanding mind, as to declare, that, in his opinion,
whoever afTerted the contrary, was himfelf deftitute of un-
derftanding ; (e) what would he have faid, had he been ac-
quainted with the modern difcoveries of aftronomy ; the im-
menfe greatnefs of the world, that part of it (I mean) which
falls under our obfervation ; the exquifite regularity of the
motions of all the planets, without any deviation or con-
fufion ; the inexpreflible nicety of adjuftment in the prima-
ry velocity of the earth's annual motion : the wonderful
proportion of its diurnal motion about its own centre, for
the diftindlion of light and darknefs ; the exadt accom-
modation of the denfities of the planets to dieir diftances
from the fun : the admirable order, number, and ufeful-
nefs of the feveral fatellite3, which move about their refpec-
live planets; the motion of the comets, which are now
found to be as regular and periodical, as that of other pla-
netary bodies ; and, laftly, the prefervation of the feveral
fyftems, and of the feveral planets and comets in the fame
(d) Tully Dc nat. deorum. (e) Clarke's Demonflration of
a God.
fyftem,
54 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. fyftem, from falling upon each other : what, I fay, would
Ant. Chrif.Tully, that great mailer of reafon, have thought and faid,
Gen°ch lf ^ie^e» an<^ other newly difcovered instances of the inex-
and part 0fPreffibIe accuracy and wifdom of the works of God, had
ch. %. been obferved and conlidsred in his days ? Gertainly A-
** """V"— " 'dieifm, which even then was unable to withftand the argu-
ments drawn from this topic, mull now, upon the addi-
tional ftrength of thefe later ohfcrvations, be utterly alhamed
to iliow its head, and forced to acknowledge, that it was an
eternal and almighty being, God alone, who gave thefe
celeftial bodies their proper menfuration and temperature
of heat, their duenefs of diftance, and regularity of mo-
tion, or, in the pJbrafe of the prophet, (f) who ejlabhjhed
the ivor Id by his wifdom, and ft ret chid out the heavens by his
under/handing.
The air and ^> from the firmament, we defcend to the orb whereon
its meteors. we live, what a glorious proof or the divine wifdom do we
meet with in this intermediate expaniion of the air, which
is fo wonderfully contrived, as, at one and the fame time,
to fupport clouds for rain, and to afford winds for health
and traffic ; to be proper for the breath of animals by it's
Spring, for cauiing founds by its motion, and for convey-
ing light by its transparency ? But whofe power was it, that
made fo thin and fluid an element, the Safe repository of
thunder and lightning, of winds and tempefts ? By
whofe command, and out of whofe treafuries, are thefe
meteors fent forth to purify the air, which would otherwife
ftagnate, and confume the vapours, which would other-
wife annoy us . ? And by what Skilful hand is the (g) water,
which is drawn from the lea, by a natural diftillation made
freih, and bottled up, as it were, in the clouds, to be fent
upon the wings of the wind into different countries, and,
in a manner, equally difperfed, and distributed over the
face of the earth, in gentle Showers ?
From the Whofe power and wifdom was it, that hanged the earth
earth, zn&npon nothing, and gave it a Spherical figure, the moft
its animals.comm0(jjous tjiat cou](j be devifed, both for the con-
sistency of its parts, and the velocity of its motion ? that
weighed the mountains in fcales, and the hills in a ba-
lance, and difpofed of them in their moft proper places
for fruitfulnefs and health ? That diversified the climates of
the earth into fuch an agreeable variety, that, at the far-
theft diftance, each one has its proper feafons, day and
(/*) Jer. li. 15. (g) Ray's Wifdom of God in the creation.
night,
Chap I. from the Creation to the Flood. 2>5
night, winter and fummer ? that cloathed the face of it A .yi.i.
with plants and flowers, lb exquiiitely adorned with various /Q0^
and inimitable beauties, that even Solomon, in all bis glory, Gen. ch. i.
-was not arrayed like one of them ? That placed the plant in and part of
the feed (as the young is in the womb of animals) in fuch'
elegant complications, as afford at once both a pleaiing and
aitonifhing fpectacle I that painted and perfumed the flow-
ers, give them the fweet odours which they diffufe in the
air for our delight, and, with one and the fame water, dyed
them into different colours, the fcarlet, the purple, the
carnation, furpaffing the imitation, as well as comprehen-
fion of mankind ? that has replenilhed it with fuch an in-
finite variety of living creatures, (h) fo like, and at the
fame time fo unlike to each other, that of the innume-
rable particulars wherein each creature differs from all o-
thers, every one is known to have its peculiar beauty, and
lingular ufe ? Some walk, fome creep, fome fly, fome
iwim; but every one has members and organs (i) fitted
to its peculiar motions. In a word, the pride of the horie,
and the feathers of the peacock, the largenefs of the
camel, and the fmallnefs of the infect, are equal demon-
ftrations of an infinite wifdom and power : Nay, * the
fmaller
(h) Dr Sam. Clarke's Term. vol. i. (/') Ray's Wifdom of
God in the creation.
* Where has nature difpefed fo many Jenfes, as in a gnat P
(fays Piiny in his Natural hif.ory, when confidering the body of
that iniect), " Ubi vifum prsetendit ? ubi guflatum applicavit ?
** ubi odoratum inferuit? ubi vero truculentam illam, et portionc
" maximam vote in, iDgeneravit ? qua fubtilitate pennas adnex-
** uit ? praelongavit peduin crura, difpofuit jejuriani caveam, uti
** alvuni, avidam fanguinis, et poiiiiimuin humani, accendit ?
M telmn vero, perfodiendi tefgori, quo fpiculavit ingenio?
" atque, at in capaci, cum cei ni non poffit exilitas, ita recipro-
u ca gtminavk arte, ut fodiendo acuminatum, pariter forben-
" doquc n'ifulofum effet ?" And if Pliny made fo many queries
concerning the body of a gnat, (which, by his own contdlion, is
none of the leaft of infecls), what would he, in all likelihood, have
done, had he feen the bodies of thefe animaicula, which are dif-
cei nible by glailcs, to the number of i o, 20, or 30 thoufand, in
a drop of pepper-water, not larger than a grain of millet ? And
if thefe creatures be fo very final!, what muft we think of their
mulcles, and other parts? Certain it is, that the mechanifm, by
which n.'.tuie performs the mufcular motion, is exceedingly minute
and curious,, and to the performance of every mufcular motion, in
greater
3 5 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. i. fmaller the creature is, the more amazing is the workman -
'*".' l "{hip ; and when in a little mite, we do (by the help of
Gen. ch. i.glafles) fee limbs perfectly well organized, an head, a body,
and pan of legs, and feet, all diftinct, and as well proportioned for
their fize, as thofe of the vafteft elephants ; and conlider
withal, that, in every part of this living atom, there are
mufcles, nerves, veins, arteries, and blood ; and in that
blood ramous particles and humours ; and in thofe hu-
mours, fome drops that are compofed of other minute
particles : when we conlider all this, I fay, can we help
being loft in wonder and aftonifhment, or refrain crying
out, with the bleiled apoftle, (k) 0 the depth of the riches
both of the wiflom, and knowledge of God ! how unfearch-
able are his works, and his ways of creation and providence
pafi finding out !
But there is another thing in animals, both terreftrial
and aqueous, no lefs wonderful than their frame ; and that
is, their natural inftinct. In compliance with the common
forms of fpeech I call it fo ; but in reality, it is the pro-
vidential direction of them, by an all -wife, and all-powerful
mind. For what elfe has infufed into birds the art of build-
ing their nefts, either hard or foft, according to the confti-
tution of their young ? What elfe makes them keep fo con-
ftantly in their nefts, while they are hatching their young,
as if they knew the philofophy of their own warmth, and
its aptnefs for animation ? what elfe moves the fwallow,
upon the approach of winter, to fly to a more temperate
climate, as if it underftood the celeftial figns, the influ-
ence of the ftars, and the change of feafons ? What elfe (/)
caufes the falmon, every year, to afcend from the fea up a
river, fome four or Ave hundred miles perhaps, only to
caft its fpawn, and fecure it in banks of fand, until the
voung be hatched, or excluded, and then return to the fea
again ? How thefe creatures, when they have been wan-
dering, a long time, in the wide ocean, fhould again find
out, and repair to the mouth of the fame rivers, feems to
me very ftrange, and hardly accountable, without having
recourfe either to feme imprefllon given at their firft crea-
tion, or the immediate and continual direction of a fuperior
greater animals at leaft, there are not fewer diftinct parts con-
cerned, than many millions of millions, and thefe viable through
a microfcope ; Ray's JV'tfdom of Cod in the creation,
(k) Rom. xi. 33. (/) Ray's Wifdom of God.
caufe
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 37
caufe. In a word, (m) can we behold the fpider's net, a. M. i.
the lilk worm's webs, the bee's cells, or the ant's grana-Ant. C'-ii:
ries, without being loft in the contemplation, and forced to r 4°c^"
acknowledge that infinite wildorii of their creator, who ei- and part or
ther directs their unerring fteps himfelf, or has given themch- 2.
a genius (if I may fo call it) fit to be an emblem, and to '•"""■"v"""- '
fliew mankind the pattern of art, induftry, and frugality ?
If from the earth, and the creatures which live upon it, From the
we caft Our eye upon the water, we foon perceive, that)vat-r; ai,K'
it is a liquid and tranfparent body, and that, had it been Jts
more or lefs rarified, it had not been fo proper for the ufe
of man : but who gave it that juft configuration of parts,
and exact degree of motion, as to make it both fo fluent,
and at the fame time fo ftrong, as to carry and waft a-
way the moil unweildy burthens ? Who hath taught the
rivers to run, in winding ftreams, through vaft tracts of
land, in order to water them more plentifully ; then throw
themfelves into the ocean, to make it the common centre
of commerce ; and fo, by fecret and imperceptible chan-
nels, return to their fountain-head, in one perpetual cir-
culation ? Who ftofed and replenifhed thefe rivers with fiih.
of all kinds, which glide, and fport themfelves in the lim-
pid ftreams, and run heedlefly into the fifher's net, or
come greedily to the angler's hook, in order to be caught
(as it were) for the ufe and entertainment of man ? The
great and ivide fea is a very awful and ftupendous work
of God, and the flux and reflux of its waters are not the
eafieft phenomena in nature. (u) /ill' that we know of
certainty is this, that the tide carries and brings us back
to certain places, at precife hours : but whofe hand is it
that makes it ftop, and then return with fiich regularity ?
A little more Of lefs motion in this fluid mafs woidd dift
Order all nature, and a fmall incitement upon a tide ruin
whole kingdoms : who then was fo wife, as to take fuch.
exact me'afures in irnmenfe bodies, and who fo ftrong, as
to rule the rage of that proud clement at dlfcretien ? Even
he, (0) who hath flared the fo.djor the bound thereof, by
a perpetual decree, that it cannot fafs ; and placed the
Leviathan (among other animals cf all kinds) therein to
take his pajlime, cut: of ivhoje nojlrils goeth a fr.oke, and
whofe breath kindleth (oals; ih that he maketh the deep ts
boil like a pot, and maketh the fea like a pot of ointment,
(w) Charnocky eSiftence of a Cod. {?>) Fcnelon's dcrr.or>
ftration of a God< (0) Jtr. v. 22.
Vol. I. U as
3 8 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. r. as the author of the book of (p) Job elegantly defcribes
Ant. Chnf. fefa mopc portentous creature.
Gen. ch. i. If now, from the world itfelf, we turn our eyes more
and part of particularly upon man, the principal inhabitant that God
ca- 2- has placed therein, no understanding certainly can be fo
And^tVorn *aw an<^ "iean> no heart fo ftupid and infenhble* as not
the make of plainly to fee, that nothing but infinite wifdom could,
man's bodjrip fo wonderful a manner, have fafhioned his body, and
mfpired into It a being of fuperior faculties, whereby he
{q) ieacheth us more than the be aft s cfthejield, and maker h us
ivifer than the fowls of heaven.
Should any of us fee a lump of clay rife immediately
from the ground into the compieat figure of a' man, full
of beauty and fymmetry, and endowed with all the parts
and faculties we perceive in ourfelves, and pofhbly far
more exquifite and beautiful : fhculd we prefently, after his
formation, .obferve him perform all the operations of life,
fenfe, and reafon ; move as gracefully, talk as eloquently,
reafon as juilly, and do every thing as dexterouily, as the
mod accomphlhed man breathing ; the fame was the cafe,
and the fame the moment of time, in God's formation of
our firfi: parent. But (to give the thing a ftronger impref-
fion upon the mind) we will fuppofe, (r) that this figure
rifes by degrees, and is finifhed part by part, in fome fuc-
cefiion of time ; and that, when the whole is compleated,
the veins and arteries bored, the finews and tendons laid,
the joints fitted, and the liquor (tranfmutable into blood
and juices) lodged i if Che ventricles of the heart, God infu-
fes into it a vital principle ; whereupon the liquor in the heart
begins to defcend, and thrill along the veins, and an hea-
venly blum ai'ifes in the countenance, fuch as fcorns the .
help of art, and is above the power of imitation. The
image moves, it walks, it fpeaks ; it moves with fuch a
majefty, ;;s proclaims it the lord of the creation, and talks
with fuch an accent, and fublimity of fentiment, as makes
every ear attentive, and even its great Creator enter into
convcrfe with it : were we to fee ail this tranfa&ed before
our eyes, I fay, we could not but fiand aftonifhed at the
thing; and yet this is an exact emblem of every man's
formation, and a contemplation it is, that mode holy David
break cut into this rapturous acknowledgment : (s) Lord'.
I iutll give thee thanks, for I am fearfully and wonderfully
(p) Jobxli. 31. (q) Job xxxv. ir. (r) Hale's origination
of mankind. (j) Plal. exxxix. 14. 16.
made i
Chap. I. from the Creation to the Flood. 29
made ; marvellous are thy works, and that my foul know- A. M. 1.
eth right well : thine eyes did fee my fubfiance, yet being Ant- Chrif.
imperfeSl, and in thy book were all my members written. Gen°° h
Nay, fo curious is the texture of" the human body, and and part of
in every part lb full of wonder, that even Galen himfelf, ch- *•
(who was otherwife backward enough to believe a God),'
after he had carefully furveyed the frame of it, and viewed
the fknefs and ufefulnefs of every part, the many * feve-
ral intentions of every little vein, bone, and mufcle, and
the beautiful compolition of the whole, fell into a pang of
devotion, and wrote an hymn to his Creator's praife. (t)
And, if in the make of the body, how much more does
the divine wifdom appear in the creation of the foul of
man, a fubftance immaterial, but united to the body by a
copula imperceptible, and yet fo ftrong, as to make them
mutually operate, and fympathize with each other, in all
their pleafures and their pains ; a fubftance endued with
thofe wonderful faculties of thinking, underftanding, jud-
ging, reafoning, chufing, adling, and (which is the end
and excellency of all) the power of knowing, obeying, imi-
tating, and praifmgits Creator; though certainly neither it,
nor any fuperior rank of beings, angels, and archangel?,
or the whole hojl of heaven can worthily and fufiiciently
do it ; (u) for who can exprefs the mighty atls of the Lord, or
f hew forth all his praife ?
Thus, which way foever we turn our eyes, whether we
look upwards or downwards, without us, or within us,
upon the animate or inanimate parts of the creation ; we {hail
find abundant reafon to take up the words of the Pfalmift,
and fay, Lx) 0 Lord, how wonderful are thy works ! in wif-
dom haft thou made them all ; the earth is full of thy riches,
(y) 0, that men would therefore praife the Lord for his
* Galen, in bis book De fcrmatione foetus, takes notice, that
there are, in a human body, above 600 mufcles, in each of
which there are, at leaf!, ten feveral intentions, or due qualifica-
tions, to be obferved ; fo that, about the mufcles alone, no Iefs
than 6000 feveral ends and aims are to be attended to. 1 he
bones are reckoned to be 284, and the diftinct fcopes, or inten-
tions of each of thefe, are above 40? in all, about 12,000; and
thus it is in fome proportion with all the oilier parts, the fkin,
ligaments, vcfTtls, and humours ; but more efpecially with the
feveral velfels of the body, which do, in regard of the great
variety and multitude of thofe feveral intentions required to
them, very much exceed the homogeneous parts ; V/ilkhis'i nai. rel.
(/) Clarke's ferm. vol. 1. (u) Pfal. cvi. 2. (x) Ibid,
piy. .24. (j) Ibid. cvii. ar. 22.
U 2, goodnefs,
40 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A.M. i. goodnefs, and declare the wonders that he doth for the children
Ant. C\m{.0jr )ngll j tjrat tj},y woul{ offer him the facrijice of thank/giving,
Geu °h! !.and tell out all his works with gladnefs !
and part of
CHAP. II.
Of the jl ate of mans innocence.
The History.
4.ren.
\mg them.
ch. a. J\ S foon as the feventh day from the creation (the firft.
iromver. 8. ^* day, as we faid, of Adam's life, and confequentby
'-— -v — —'the fir it day of the week-) was begun, Adam, awaking out
^^Aj^'of hisileep, and muling, very probably, on his vifion the
tu Adam, preceding night, beheld the fair figure of a woman apr
■ oal8> proachirig him f, conducted by the hand of her almighty
Maker; and as ihe advanced, the feveral innocent beaur
ties that adorned her perfon, the comelinefs of her fhape,
and gracefulnefs of her gefture, the luftre of her eye, and
iweetnefs of her looks, difcovered themfelves in every ftep
more and more.
It is not to be exprefTed, nor now conceived *, what a
full tide of joy entered in at the foul of our firft parent,
when
\ Tt is the general opinion of interpreters, both Jewifh and
Chriftian, that God himfelf, or, more particularly, the fecond
perfon in the ever-bleffed Trinity, God the Son (who is therefore
ityled in Scripture [Ifa lxiii. c).] the Angel of 'God' 's frefnce ) ap-
peared to Adam, on this and fontlry other occafions, in a vifible
glorious rnajtfy, fucli as the Jews call the Schechhah, which
items to have been a very fh'ming fame, or amazing fplendor of
light, breaking out of a thick cloud, of which we afterward
read very frequently, under the name of the glory of the Lord,
and to which we cannot fuppofe our* firft parents to have been
ftrangcrs. We therefore look upon it as highly probable, that
this divine IVftjefty firft conducted Eye to the place where Adam
was, and not long after their marriage, conveyed them both,
•from the place where they were formed, into the garden of
Eden ; Patrick's Covtpientary.
* Milton has exprefTed the joy and tranfport of Adam, upon
his firft light of Eve, in the following manner :
When out of hope, behold her! not far off;
Such as I faw her in my dream, adorn'd
With what ail earth, cr heaven could beftoWj
'To make her amiable, Oa fhe came.
Led
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 41
when he furveyed this lovely creature, who was deftined ^- M-*-
to be the partner and companion of his life; when, by a 4'004u "
fecret fympathy, he felt that fhe was of his own likenefs, Gen. ch. %.
and complexion, bone of his bone, and flejb of his jlejh, hisfromver- 8«
very felf, diverfifbd only into another fex ; and could ea-
fily forefee, that the love and union which was now to
commence between them was to be perpetual, and for ever
infeparable. (a) For the fame divine hand which con-
ducted the woman to the place where Adam was, prefent-
ed her to him in the capacity of a matrimonial father;
and, * having joined them together in the nuptial ftate,
Led by her heav'nly Maker (though unfeen)
And guided by his voice j not uninibrm'd
Of nuptial fancfity, and marriage rites.
Grace was in all her fteps, heav'11 in her eye,
In ev'ry gefture dignity and love.
I overjoy'd, could not forbear aloud.
" This turn hath made amends, thou haft fiilfiU'd
'.' Thy words, Creator bounteous, and benign !
:." Giver of all things fair! but faireft this
« Of all thy gifts." Book 8.
(a) Vid. Patrick's Commentary.
* The words of Milton upon this occafion are extremely
fine.
—all heav'n
And happy con (tell ations, on that hour-
Shed their felecteft influence : the earth
Gave llgn of gratulation, and each hill:
Joyous the birds ; frelh gales, and gentle airs
Whifper'd it to the woods, and from their wings
Flung roie, flung odors, from the fpicy fhrub,
Difporting. Book 8.
Nor can we pafs by his epifode upon marriage, which, for its
grave and majeftic beauty, is inimitable.
Hail wedded love ! myfterious law ! true fource
Of human offspring! fole propriety
In paradife, of atl things common elfe !
By thee adult'rous luft was driv'n from men,
Among the beftial herds to range ; by thee
(Founded in reafon, loyal, jnft, and pure)
Relations dear, and all the charities
Of father, fon, and brother, firft were known.
Perpetual fountain of domeftic fweets !
Whofe bed is undenTd, and chafte pronoune'd— —
Here love his golden (hafts employs ; here lights
His conflant lamp, and waves his purple wings ;
Reigns here and revels — - Book 4.
pronounced
The fitu-
42 The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book L
*• M-T\ .pronounced his benediction over them, to the intent that
4004. l (^) tney might enjoy unmolefted the dominion he had gi-
Geu.ch. z. ven them over the other parts of the creation, and, being
from ver. 8. themfelves f fruitful in the procreation of children, might
live to fee the earth replenifhed with a numerous progeny,
defcended from their loins,
ation of In the mean time God had taken care to provide our
Paradife. firft parents * with a pleafant and delightful habitation in
the
(b) Vtd. Gen. i. 28. 29. 30.
•f The words of the text are, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenifh the earth : whereupon fome have made it a queftion,
whether this is not a command, obliging all men to marriage
and procreation, as moil of the Jewilh doclors arc of opinion ?
But to this it may be replied, r//, That it is indeed a command
obliging all men fo far, as not to fnfTer the extinction of mankind,
in which fenfe it did abfolutely bind Adam and Eve, as alfoNoah,
and his fons, and their wives, after the flood : but, 2dly, that it
does not oblige every particular man to marry, appears from the
example of our Lord Jefus, who lived and died in an unmarried
flate; from his commendation of thofe who made themfelves ew
nuchs for the kingdom of God, Mattli. xix. 1 2. and from St.
, Paul's frequent approbation of virginity, 1 Cor. vii. 1. <bc. And
therefore, %dly, it is here rather a permiffion than a command,
though it be expreflcd in the form of a command, as ether per-
mifhons frequently are. Vid. Gen. ii. \6. Deut. xiv. 4.; Pool's
Annotations.
* The defcription which Milton gives us of the garden of pa-
radife, is very agreeable in feveral places, but in one more efpe-
cially, where he reprefents the pleafing variety of it.
Thus was this place
A happy rural feat of various vievv.
Groves, whofe rich trees wept od'rous gums, and balmj
Others, whofe fruit, bprniftYd with golden rind,
Hung amiable ; (Hefperian fables true,
If true, here only) and of delicious tafte.
Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks,
Grazing the tender herb, were interpos'd j
Or palmy hillock, or the flow'ry lap
Of fome irriguous valley fpread her Aore.
Flow'rs of all hue, and without thorn the rofe.
Another fide umbrageous grots, and caves
Of cool recefs, o'er which the mantling vine
Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps
Luxuriant. Mean while murm'ring waters fall
Pown the (lop hills, difpers'd, or in a lake
(That
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 43
the country of Eden (c), which was watered by four ri-A. M. t.
vers ; by the Tigris, in Scripture called Hiddekel, on one Ant- "*■
fide, and by Euphrates on the other, which, joining their Gcn j£ ,
ftreams together in a place where (not long after the flood) from ver. 8.
the famous city of Babylon was fituate, pafs through a large v—" -V—""^
country, and then dividing again, form the two rivers,
which the facred hiftorian calls Pi/on, and Gihon, and fo
water part of the garden of paradife, wherein were all kinds
of trees, herbs, and flowers, which could any way delight
the light, the tafte, or the fmell.
Among other trees however, there were two of very The tree of
remarkable names and properties planted in the midft, life, and
or moft eminent part of the garden, to be always within ^iatof
the view and obfervation of our firft parents, the tree of why f0 ^j!
life, fo called, (d) becaufe it had a virtue in it, not only led.
to repair the animal fpirits, as other nourifhment does,
but likewife to preferve and * maintain them in the fame
equal temper and ftate wherein they were created, with-
out pain, difeafes, or'decay ; and the tree of knowledge of
good and evil, fo called, (e) not becaufe it had a virtue
to confer any fuch knowledge, but * becaufe the devil, in
his
(That to the fringed bank, with myrtle crown'd,
Her chryftal mirror holds) unite their ftreams.
The birds their choir apply. Airs, vernal airs,
Breathing the fmell of fields, and groves, attune
The trembling leaves, while univerial Pan
Knit with the Graces, and the Hours, in dance
Lead on the eternal fpring. Book 4.
(c) Htfloire de la Bible, par M. Martin. (d) Patrick's
Comment. ; et -aid. ch. 3. ver. 20.
* Others think, that the tree 'f life was fo called, in a fymbo-
Iical fenfe, as it was a fign and token of that life which man had
received from God,, and of his continual enjoyment of it, without
diminution, had he perfifted in his obedience ; and as this garden,
fay they, was confdfedly a type of heaven, fo God might intend'
by this tree to reprefent that immortal life which he meant to bc-
ftow upon mankind with himfelf, Revel, xxii. 2. ; according to
which is that famous faying of fit. Auftin, Krai ei in ceteris lignii
alimenttmiy in ijlis vsro facrawientum • Patrick's Commentary.
(e) NichoU's Conference, vol. 1.
* Others think the tree of knowledge was fo called, either in
refpeft to God, who was minded by this tree to prove our
firft parents, whether they would be good or bad, which was to
be
44 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book 1
A. M. i. his temptation of the woman, pretended that it had; pre-
Ant. Chnf.tended that(/") as God knew all things, and was himfelf
4004. r • f
Gen. ch. i.fubject to no one's controul, 10 the eating of this tree would
from ver. 8. confer on them the fame degree of knowledge, and put
^■"■"v--— 'them in the fame urate of independency : and from this un-
fortunate deception (whereof God might fpeak by way of
anticipation) it did not improperly derive its name.
The prohi- Into this f paradife of much pleafure, but fome dan-
bition given ger, wherein was one tree of a pernicious quality, though
our firft pa-Au tjie refj. were gO0d jn their kind, and extremely falutary,
the Lord God conducted our firft parents, who, at thisi
time, were naked, and yet not afhamed, becaufe their in-
nocence was their protection. They had no iinful inclinations
in their bodies, no evil concupifcence in their minds, to make
them blufh; and withal, the temperature of the climate
was fuch, as needed no cloathing to defend them from the
weather, God having given them (as we may imagine) a for-
vey of their new habitation, fhewn them the various beau-
be known by their abftaining from the fruit, or eating it ; or in
refpect to them, who, in the event, found by fad experience, the
difference between good and evil, which they knew not before;
but they found the difference to be this, that good is that which
gives the mind pleafure and allurance ; but evil that which is al-
ways attended with forfow and regret ; Poors annotations, and
Young's Sermons, vol. r.
(J) Eftius in difficiliorabca.
f The word paradife, which the Septuagint make ufe of
(whether it be of Hebrew, Chaldee, or Perlian original) fignifiea
a place enchfed for pleafure and delight : either a park where
beafts do range, or a fpot of ground itocked with choice plants,
which is properly a garden ; or curioufly fet with trees, yield-
ing all manner of fruit, which is an orchard. There are three
places in the Hebrew text of the Old Ttftament, wherein this
word is found, i. in Nehemiah, ii 8. where that prophet re-
quells of Artaxcrxcs le:tcrs to Afapb, the keeper cf the king s fo-
re/1, orpa'adife; adly, in the Son g of Solomon, [i v. 13 ] where
he fays, that the plants- of. the fpoix[e.are an orchard of pomegra-
nates; and *dly, in Ecciefiaftes [ii. 5.] where he fays, he ?nade
himfelf gardens, or paraJifes- In all which, fenfes the won! may
very fitly be applied to the place where our firft parents were to
live; fince it was not only a pleafant garden and fruitful orchard,
but a fpacicus park and.foreft iikewife, wheremto the feveral
beafts of the fidd were permitted to come; Edward's Survey of
religion, vol. 1 . ; and Calm-it's Dictionary on the word Para-
dife.
ties
k Milium
jrirro jscviffvmr airx
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 45
ties of the place, the work wherein they were to employ A.
M. 1.
themfelves by day, and * the bower wherein they were to Ant- Qirtt
repofe themfelves by night, granted them to eat of the fruit Gen. ch. 1
of every tree in the garden, except that one, the tree of 'from ver 8
knowledge of good and evil, which (how lovely foever it"
might appear to the eye) lie ftrictly charged them not fo
much as to touch, upon the penalty of incurring his dif-
pleafure, forfeiting their right and title to eternal life, and
entailing upon themfelves, and their poiterity, || mortality,
difeafes, and death.
With
* The description which Milton gives us of this blifsful, bower,
is extremely fine.
■ It was a place,
Chos'n by the fov'rtign Planter, when he fram'd
All things to man's delightful nfe : the roof"
Of thickeft covert, was inwoven made,
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew
Of firm and fragrant leaf. On either fide
Acanthus, and each od'rous bufhy fhrub,
Fenc'd up the verdant wall. Each beauteous flow'r,
Iris, all hues, roles, and jefTamin,
Rear'd high their floiiriuYd heads between, and wrought
Mofaic : underfoot the violet,
Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay,
Broider'd the ground, more colcur'd than with (tone
Of coftlieft emblem. Other creatures here,
Bead, bird, infect, or worm, durfl enter none ;
Such was their awe of man ! Book 4.
|J The words in our verfion are, In the day thou eaiefl thereof,
thou Jh alt fur ely die-, which fecm to imply, that on the day that
Adam fhould eat of the tree of knowledge, he ihould die; which
eventually proved not fo, becaufe he lived many years after ;
and therefore (as fome obferve very well) it Ihould be rendered,
Thou /halt deferve to die without remifion j for the Scripture fre-
quently cxpreifes by the future, not only what will come to pais,
but alio whit ought to come to pals; to which purpofe there is a
very appotite text in 1 Kings, ii. ^7. where Solomon fays to Shi-
mei,— Co not forth thence {viz, from Jtrufalem) any vj hi-
ther ; for in the day thou goeji out, and pa fe [I over the brook.
K droit, thou flialt furely die, i. e. thou fhalt deferve death with-
cut remiffion. For Solomon refcrved to himfclfihe power of pu-
nching him when he ihould think fit ; and, in effccl, he did
not put him to death the fame day that he difobeyed, any more
than God did put Adam to death the fame day that he tranf-
Yol. I. X grelfed
46 The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. With this fmall reftraint which the divine wifdom
Lnt, n -though proper to lay upoa Adam, as a token of his fub-
400.1.. » * o • ' '■ -* * *
G n. eh. % jection, and a teir or his obedience, God left him to the
from ver. 8 enjoyment of this pacadife, where every thing was plea-
'fant to the fight, and accommodated to his liking. Not
thinking it convenient however for him, even in his ftate of
.innocence, to be idle or unemployed, here he appointed hirn
to drefs and keep the new plantation, which, by reafon of
its luxuriancy, would in time, he knew, require his care.
Here he was to employ his mind, as well as exercife his bo-
dy; to contemplate and Trudy the works of God; to fub-
mit himfeif wholly to the divine conduct ; to conform all
his actions to the divine will; and to live in a conftant de-
pendence upon the divine goodnefs. Here he was to fpend
his days in the continual exercifes of prayer and thankf-
giving ; and, it may be, the natural dictates of gratitude
would prompt him to offer fome of the fruits of the ground,
and fome living creature's, by way of facritice to God. Here
were thoufands of objects to exercife his intellective faculties,
to call forth his reafon, and employ it ; but that wherein
the ultimate perfection of his life was doubtlefs to confift,
was the union of his foul with the fupreme good, that in-
finite a-cd eternal Being, which alone can conftitute the hap-
plnefs of man.
Their ii*- (£•) O! Adam, beyond all imagination happy ; with
pniefs, , unmterrupted health, and untainted innocence, to delight
thee ; no perverfenefs of will, or perturbation of appetite,
to difcompoie thee ; a heart upright, a confeience clear,
and an head unclouded, to entertain thee ; a delightful
earth for thee to enjoy ; a glorious univerie for thee to
contemplate ; an everlailing heaven, a crown of never-fa-
ding giovy for thee to look for and expect ; and, in the
mean time, the author of that univerfe, the King of that
heaven, and giver of that glory, thy God, thy Creator,
thy benefactor, to fee, to converle with, to bltls, to glo-
rify, to adore, to obey !
greficd in eating the forbidden fruit. This fecms to be a good
folmion ; though fume interpreters nnderfland the prohibition,
as if God intended thereby to intimate to Adam, the deadly qua-
lity of the forbidden liuit, whofe poifon was fo very exquiiite,
that, on the very day lie cat thereof, it would certainly have de-
ftroyed him, had not God's goodnefs interpofed, and reffxained its
vio'enec ; Vol. Eijay for a tieivl'rattflaihji ; andLe Cure's Com-
ment. '
(g) Revelation examined, parti.
This
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 47
This was the defigned felicity of our firft parents. Nei-A. M. x.
ther they nor their pofterity were to be liable to forrow or Ant o^
mifery of any kind, but to be poflefled of a conftant and Gen. ch. 1.
never-failing happinefs; and, after innumerable ages and"'rc;n ver. 8.
fucceflions, were, in their courfes, to be taken up into an TYT""'
heavenly paradife. For (/;) that the terreftrial paradife was <d u^aL*
to Adam a type of heaven, and that the never-ending life ton,
of happinefs promifed to our firft parents (if they had con-
tinued obedient, and grown up to perfection under that
ceconomy wherein they were placed) fhould not have been
continued in this earthly, but only have commenced here,
and been perpetuated in an higher ftate, ;'. c. after ftich a
trial of their obedience as the divine wifdom fhould think
convenient, they fhould have been tranfLited from earth to.
heaven, is the joint opinion * of the beft ancient, both
Jewifh and Chriftian writers.
The Objection
B
UT how delightful foever the garden of Eden might againft the
be, a tvpe of heaven, and an entrance into the reallty °f •»•
Jsr .. tetteftnal
region. par3
(h) Bull's State of man before the fall.
* This fame learned writer, {viz. Bifhop Bull) has compiled
a great many authorities from the fathers of the firft centuries,
all full and fignificant to the purpofe, and to which I refer the
reader, only mentioning one or two of more remarkable force
and antiquity, for his prefent fatisfaelion. Jufrin Martyr, fpcak-
ing of the creation of the world, delivers not his own private o-
pinion only, but the common fenfe of Chriftians in his days:
" Wc have been taught," fays he, " that God, being good, did,
" in the beginning, make all things out of an uninformed matter
*' for the fake of men, who, if by their works they had rendered
?.' \ thcmfelvrs worthy of his acceptance, we prefumc, lhould have
" been favoured with his friendlhip, and reigned together with
"him, being made incorruptible, and impaffable ; ' Jpol. 2.
Athanafius, among other things worthy our obfervation, concern-
ing the primordial ftate of our firft parents, has thefe remarkable
words : ■ " He brought them therefore into paradife, and gave theVrt
" a law, that if they fhould preferve the grace then given, and
" continue obedient, they might enjoy in paradife a life without
" grief, forrow, or ore ; betides tiiat they had a promife alio of
"an immortality in the heavens;" De incarnat'tujie itsrhi .
And therefore we need left wonder, that we find it in an article
inferted, in the common offices of the primitive church; anti
that in the moft ancient liturgy now extant [that of Clemen -j
we read thefe words concerning Ad-un: " When thou br<
X 2 « eft
The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I,
regions of eternal blifs ; yet all this feems to be but
(/) an imaginary and romantic defcription of what ne-
ver had any exiitence in nature. In the whole habitable
world we can meet with no fuch place, as had the four
great rivers of Euphrates, Tigris, Ganges, and the Nile,
(which two latter, according to fome men's opinions,
" are the Pilbn and Gihon of Mofes) all concurring to
" water it : and therefore the oddnefs of this geography has
<£ led leveral learned men to place this paradife in the third
" heaven, in the orb of the moon, in the moon itfelf, in
" the middle i-egion of the air, &c, and of thofe who al-
" low it a fituation in this fublunary world, fome have
" carried it into a far diftant country, quite concealed from
" the knowledge ol: men ; whilft others had rather have it
" lie iriTartary, in China, in Armenia, in Mefopotamia, in
u< Syria, in Perfta, in Babylonia, in Arabia, in Paleitine,
" in Ethiopia, 6v. In ihort, there is fcarce any corner of
" the known world, wherein this wonderful garden has
" not been feated ; and therefore others have more wifely
" concluded, that there was never any fuch determinate
" place ; that (k) the whole earth, before its devaftation,
*' was entirely paradillacal ; that Mofes, in his account,
" only puts a part for the whole, the better to accommo-
" date it to his reader's conception; or that, if ever there
" was a local paradife, the violent concuffions which hap-
M pened at the flood did unfettle the bounds of countries,
" and courfes of rivers, and fo totally change the face of
'J nature, that it is next to impoflible now to find it out."
That learned men fhould differ in their opinion about
a queftion, which, it muft be confeiTed, has its difficulties
attending it, is no wonderful thing at all ; but that Mofes,
who wrote about 850 years after the flood, fhould give us
fo particular a defcription of this garden, and that other fa-
cred writers, long after him, fhould "make fuch frequent
mention of it, if there was never any fuch place, nay, if
there were not then remaining fome marks and characters
of its iituation, is pretty ftrangg and unaccountable. The
u eft him into the paradife of pleafure, thou gaveft him free leave
" to eat of ail other trees, and forbadeft him to tafie of one only,
" for the hope of better things : that if he kept the command-
" ment, he might receive immortality as the reward of his obe-
" dicttce ;" jfyojl. Ccnjh lib. 8. cctp. 12.
(i) Burnet's Theory. (k) Eurnet's Theory ; and Ar-
ehasol- philofbpli.
revy
Chap II. From the Creation to the Flood. 49
very nature of his description fhews, that Mofes had no A. M. 1.
imaginary paradife in his view, btuf a portion of this habi- Ant. chrif.
table earth, bounded withfuch countries and rivers as were G 4°°|'
very well known by the names he gave them in his time, fr0mver. 8.
and (as it appears from other pafTages in Scripture) for ma- w -y— w>
ny ages after. (/) Eden is as evidently a real country, as A-
rarat, where the ark refted, or Shinaar, where the fons of
Noah removed after the flood. We find it mentioned as
flich in Scripture, as often as the other two ; and there is
the more reafon to believe it, becaufe, in the Mofaic ac-
count, the fcene of thefe three memorable events is all
laid in the neighbourhood of one another.
Mofes, we muft allow, is far from being pompous or ro-
mantic in his manner of writing ; and yet it cannot be de-
nied, but that he gives a manifeft preference to this fpot of
ground above all others ; which why he fhould do, we can-
not imagine, unlefs there was really inch a place as he de-
fcribes : nor can we conceive, (m) what other foundation,
both the ancient poets and philosophers could have had,
for their fortunate iflands, their elyiian fields, their garden
of Adonis, their garden of the Hefperides, their Ortygia
and Toprobane, (as defcribed by Diodorus Siculus), which
are but borrowed lketches from what our infpired penman
tells us of the firff terreftrial paradife.
It is not to be queftioned then, but that, in the-antedihi- Mofes real-
viari world, there really was fuch a place as this garden of ty intended
Eden, a place of diftinguilhed beauty, and more remark-' j^^j^P"
ably pleafant in its ikuation ; otherwife we cannot perceive,
f why the expulfion of our firft parents from that abode
mould
(/) Univerf. hift. book 1. chap. r. (m) Huet. Qiceft.
Aletan.
* Eve's lamentation upon the order which Michael brought
for their departure out of paradife, is very beautiful and affeclino'
in Milton.
O unexpected fhock, worfe far than death !
Muft I thus leave thee, Paradife, thus leave
Tlice, native foil ? Thofe happy walks jnd (hades,
Fit haunt o£gods! where I had hope to fpend
Djii 1, though fad, the refpite of that day
which mull be mortal to us both ! O fLny'rs,
That never will in other climate grow,
My , ; , and my laft
;h I had bred witb rendef hand,
from
$o The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. fliould be thought any part of their punifhment ; nor can
Ant. Chnf.we fee> what occaiion there was for placing a. faming fword
Gen°ch! 2.ak°ut the tree of life; or for appointing an holt or che-
fromver.8. rubims to guard the entrance againit their return. The
*— — V~— 'face of nature, and the courfe of rivers, might poflibly be
altered by the violence of the flood ; but this is no valid ex-
ception to the cafe in hand : (?z) becaufe Mofes does not
defcribe the fkuation of paradife in antediluvian names.
The names of the rivers, and the countries adjacent, Cufj,
Havilah, &c. are names of later date than the flood ; nor
can we fuppofe, but that Mofes (according to the known,
geography of the world, when he wrote) intended to give
us fome hints of the place, near which Eden, in the form-
er world, and the garden of paradife, were feated.
Andhowto Nov/ the defcription which Mofes gives us of it, is de-
find jt out. livered in thefe words. (o) And the Lord God planted a
garden eafiward in Eden, and a river went out of Eden
to -water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and be-
came into four heads. The name of the frfl is Pifon, that
is it which compaffeth the whole land of Havilah, where
there is gold, and the gold of that land is good; there is
the Bdellium, and the Onyx jfone. And the name of the
fecond river is Gihon ; the fame is it that compaffeth the
whole land of Cufh. And the name of the third river is
. Hiddekel ; that is it which goes before Afjyria : and the fourth
is Euphrates. So that to difcover the place of paradife, we
muft find out the true fituationof the land of Eden, where-
of it was probably a part, and then trace the courfes of the
rivers, and inquire into the nature of the countries which
Mofes here fpecified.
The differ- The word Eden, which in the Hebrew tongue (ac-
ent coun- cording to its primary acceptation) fignifies, pleafure and
tries called deiigfo . m a fecondary fenfe, is frequently made the proper
their'feve- n4me °f fever al places, which are either more remarkably
ral fitiia- fruitful in their foil, or plealant in their fkuation. Now,
at;oas.
From the firft op'ning bud, and gave ye names !
Who now will rear yon to the fun, 2nd rank
Your tribes, or water from the ambrofial fount ?
Thee, laftly, naptial bow'r, by me adorn'd,
Willi what to fight, or fmell, was fweet ! from thee
How (hall I part, and whither wander clown
Into a lower world ? Book XI.
[ii) Shuckford's Connetf. 1. 1. (•) Gen. ii. 8. l-c.
of
Chap II. from the Creation to the Flood. 51
of all the places which go under this denomination, the A. M. r.
learned have generally looked upon thefe three, as the pro- Ant- chrif-
pereft countries wherein to inquire for the terreftrial pa-Ge*°°£ ^
radife . from ver. 8.
1. Thefirft is that province which the prophet (p) A-<
mos feems to take notice of, when he divides Syria into
three parts, viz. Damafcus, the plain of Aven, and the
houfe of Eden, called Coelo-Syria, or the hollow Syria, be-
caufe the mountains of Libanus and Antilibanus inclofe it
on both fides, and make it look like a valley. But (q) (how
great foever the names be that feem to patronize it) this,
by no means, can be the Eden which Mofes means ; not
only becaufe it lies not to the eaft, but to the north of the
place where he is fuppofed to have wrote his book, but
more efpecially, becaufe it is deftitute of all the marks in
the Mofaical defcription, which ought always to be the
principal teft in this inquiry.
2. The fecond place, wherein (r) feveral learned men
have fought for the country of Eden, in Armenia, between
the fources of the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Araxis, and
the Phafis, which they fuppofe to be the four rivers fpeci-
fied by Mofes. But this fuppofition is far from being
well founded, becaufe, according to modern difcoveries,
the Phafis does not rife in the mountains of Armenia, (as
the ancient geographers have mifinformed us), but at a
great diftance from them, in mount Caucafus : nor does
it run from fouth to north, but directly contrary, from
north to fouth, as fome (s) late travellers have difcovered.
So that, according to this fcheme, we want a whole river,
and can no ways account for diat which (according to Mo-
fes's defcription of it) went out of the country of Eden, to wa-
ter the garden of paradife.
3. The third place, and that wherein the country of
Eden, as mentioned by Mofes, feems moft likely to be feat-
ed, is Chaldea, not far from the banks of the river Eu-
phrates. To this purpofe, when we find Rabfhekah vaunt-
ing out his mailer's actions, (/) Have the gods of the na-
(/>) Ch. i. 5. (<j) Its chief abettors are Heideggar in his
Hijloria Patriarch. ; Le Clerc in Gen. ii. 8 ; P. Abram in his
Pharus Vet. Te/l. ; and P. Hardouin in his edition of Pliny.
(r) The chief patrons of this fcheme are Santon in his Atlas ;
Rcland in his Dijfcrtat. de fitu paradifi ; and Calmet, both in his
Dictionary and Commentary on Gen. ii. 8. (s) Fid. Thavenot,
and Sir John Chardiu's travels. (/) 2 Kings xix. 12. and
Ilk. xxxvii. 12.
tions
52 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book L
A. M. i. tions delivered them which my fathers have dejlroyed, as
Ant. Chrif. Gazan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden,
Gen?°ch. - W^C^J ™e>~e in Tclaffar ? As TelaJJ'ar, in general, lignifies
fromver. 8. any garrifon or fortification; fo here, more particularly,
'— — V""— 'it denotes (u) that ftrong fort which the children of Eden
held in an hland of the Euphrates, towards the weft of
Babylon, as a barrier againft the incurfions of the Affy-
rians on that fide. And therefore, in all probability, (x)
the country of Eden lay on the weft fide, or rather on both
fides of the river Euphrates, after its conjunction with the
Tigris, a little below the place where, in procefs of time,
the famous city of Babylon came to be built.
Thus we have found out a country called Eden,
which, for its pleafure and fruitfulnefs *, (as all authors
agree), aniwers the character which Mofes gives of it ; and
are now to confider his defcription of the four rivers, in
order to afcertain the place where the garden (we are in
queft of) was very probably fituate.
The river Thefrfi river is Pi/on, or Phifon, (as the fon of Sirach
Pifon. calls it), that which compaffeth the land of Havilah. Now,
for the better underftanding of this, we muft obferve, that
(y) when Mofes wrote his hiftory, he was, in all proba-
bility, in Arabia Petrsea, on the eaft of which lies Arabia
Deferta ; but the fterility of the country will not admit of
the fituation of the garden of Eden in that place ; and
therefore' we muft go on eaft ward (as our author directs
us) until we come to fome place, through which Euphra-
tes and Tigris are known to fhape their courfe. Now
Euphrates and Tigris, though they both rife out of the
mountains of Armenia, take almoft quite contrary courfes.
Euphrates runs to the weft, and paffing through Mesopota-
mia, waters the country where Babylon once ftood ; where-
(u) Fid. Bedford's Scripture-chronology. (x) Calvin
fon Gen. ii. 8. J was the firfr ftarter of this opinion, and is, with
fome little variation, followed by Marinus, Bochart, Huetius,
Bifhop of Auranches, and divers others.
* Herodotus, who was an eye-witnefs of it, tells us, that
where Euphrates rans out into Tigris, not far from the placs
where Ninus is feated, that region is, of all that he ever faw,
the moit excellent ; fo fruitful in bringing forth com, that it
yieldeth two hundred fold ; and fo plenteous in grafs, that the
people are forced to drive their cattle from p3iture, left they
• fliould furfeit themfclves by too much plenty ; Vid. Herod. Clio.
lib. ; and Quint. Curt. I. 5.
(f) Vid. Wells '5 Geography; and Patrick's Commentary.
as
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 53
as Tigris takes towards the eaft, and pairing along Affyria, A. M. 1.
waters the country where the once famed city of Nineveh Chnf.
flood. After along progrefs, t iiey n^t a little below 13a- Gen. ch. 2.
bylon, and, running a confiderable way together in one from vtr. 8.
large ftream, with Babylonia and Chaldea on the weft, and *""" — V——'
the country of Suliana on the eaft" fide, they feparate again
not far from BafTora, and fo fall, in two channels, into
the Perfian g'alf, inclodng the iiland Teredon, now cal-
led Balfara.
Now, taking this along with us, we may obferve far- The land of
ther, that there are two places in Scripture which make Havilah<
mention of the land of Havilah. In the one we are
told, that (z) the Ifraclites dwelt from Havilah unto Sbur,
that is before Egypt ; and in the other, that (a) Saulfmote
the Amalekites from Havilah, until thou gocjl to Sbur, that
is before Egypt ; where, by the exprefhon, from Havilah
unto Sbur, is probably meant the whole extent of that
part of Arabia which lies between Egypt to the Weft, and
a certain ftream or river which empties itfelf into the
Perfian gulf, on the eaft. That Havilah is the fame
with this part of Arabia, is farther evinced from its abound-
ing with very good gold. For all authors, both facred and
profane, highly commend the gold of Arabia ; tell us,
that it is there dug in great plenty; is of fo lively .a co-
lour, as to come near to the brightnefs of fire ; and of fo
fine a kind, fo pure and unmixed, as to need no refine-
ment. Bdellium (which by fome interpreters is taken for
pearl, and by others for an aromatic gurh) is, in both
thefe fenfes, applicable to this country : for the * bdelli-
um, or gum of Arabia, was always held in great efteem ;
nor is there any place in the world which produces finer
* pearls, or in greater quantities, than the fea about Ba-
(z) Gen. xxv. 18. (<?) 1 Sam. xv. 7.
* Galen, comparing the gum of Arabia with that of Syria,
gives fome advantage to the former, which he denies to the other;
De jimp medic, lib. 6. And Pliny prefers the bdellium of Ara-
bia before that of any other nation, except that of Baclriana ;
Plin. lib. 12. cap 9
* Nearchus, one of Alexander's captains, who conducted his
fleet from the Indies, as far as the Perfian gulf, fpeaks of an
iiland there abounding in pearls of great value; Strabo, lib. 16.
And Pliny, having commended the pearls of the Indian feas,
adds, that ftich as are riihed towards Arabia, in the Perfian gulf,
defervc the greateft praife ; lib. 6. cap. 28.
Vol. I. Y haren,
54 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. haren, an ifland fituated in the Perfian gulf ; and as for *
1 ' the onyx-ftone in particular, (if we will believe what Pliny
Gen. ch. x. tells us), the ancients were of opinion, that it was no where
from vcr. 8. to be found but in the mountains of Arabia. It feems rea-
*"- — V^fonable therefore to conclude, (according to all the charac-
ters which Mofes has given us of it), that that trail: of A-
rabia which lies upon the Perfian gulf, was, in his days,
called the land of Havilah, and that the channel which, af-
ter Euphrates and Tigris part, runs weftward into the faid
gulf, was originally called Pifon ; and this the rather, be-
caufe f fome remains of its ancient name continued a long
while after this account of it.
The river The fecond river is Gihon, that which compaffeth, or
Gihon. runneth along, the whole land of J Qi/b, Where we may
obferve,
* Strang tcils us, that the riches of Arabia, which confided in
precious [tones and excellent perfumes, (the trade of which
brought them a great deal of gold and filvcr, befides the gold of
the country itfelf), made Align ftns fend ^liui Gallus thither, ei-
ther to make thefe nations his friends, and fo draw to himfelf
their riches, or elfe to fiib lue th m ; lib, 16. Diodorus Siculus
defcribes at large the advantages of Arabia, and efpecially its pre-
cious ftones, which are very valuable, both for their variety and
bright nefs of colour ; lib 2. And (to name no more) Pliny,
who is very curious in remarking the countries of precious (tones,
allures us, that thofe of the greateft value came out of Arabia j
lib. tilt.
-f- !t is a gr«t while fince both this river and the river Gihon
have loft their names. The Greek and Roman writers call them
ftill, after their parting, by the names they had before they met,
Euphrates and Tigris; but then was fome remainder of the name
of ; /v; prefer ved in Xhcnwa.Fifotigris, winch is Pifon mixed
with Tigris (as Mr Carver obferves ) By Xenophon it is called
limply Fhj/tt's, in which the name of Phi/ar? is plainly enough re-
tained, and went under that name, until the time of Alexander
the Great. For Q_ Curtius commonly calls Tig' is itfelf by the
name of Fhifis, and fays it was fo called by the inhabitants there-
about, which, in all probability, was the name of this other river
phifon, but, in procefs of time, loft by the many alterations
wh'ch were made in its courfe, as Pliny tells us ; Patrick's
Commentary
J The LXX tranflation renders the Hebrew word Cujh by
the name of Ethiopia, and in this miftake is all along followed
by our Engliih verlion, (whereas by the land of Cufh is always
meant fome part of Arabia), which has led Jofephus, and feveral
ethers^, into a notion, that the river Gihon was the Nile- in Egypt;
and
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. §§
obferve, that Mofes has not affixed fo many marks on the A. M. r.
Gihon', as he does on the Pifon, and that probably for this Ant. Chrif.
reafon ; lb) becaufe, having once found out the Pifon, we „ 4°°t°
« r r /~im t-> TV "en- c"- *•
might eaiily dikover the fituation of the Gihon. For ri-fromver 8.
fon being known to be the firtl river, in refpecl to the <^— y— -J
pi ice where Mofes was then writing, it is but natural to
fuppofe, that Gihon (as the fecond) mould be the river <L
next to it ; and, confequently, that other ftream, which,
after thi Euphrates and Tigris are parted, hold its courfe
eaftw ird, and empties itlelf in the Perfian gulf. For
all travellers agree, that the country lying upon the eaftern
ftream, which other nations call Sujiana, is by the inhabi-
tants to this day * called Chuzefian, which carries in it
plain footiteps of the original word Ci/Jb, or (as fome write
it) Chuz.
Though therefore no remains of this river Gihon are to
be met with in the country itfelf; yet, fince it lies exactly
the fee -id in order, according to the method that Mofes
h;is taken in mentioning the four rivers ; and, lince the-
province it runs along and walhes was formerly called the
land of Ciijh, and has at this time a name not a little
analagous to it ; there is no doubt to be made, but that the / '
faid eafterly channel, coming from the united fcrea'm of
the Euphrates and Tigris, is the very Gihon defcribed by
Mofes.
The third river is Hiddekel, that which goeth towardsT^e r'ive*
thecajiof, or (as it is better tranflated) that which goethHkci'
along the fide of sfyria. It is allowed by all interpreters,
as well as the LXX, that this river is the fame with Ti-
gris, which (as Pliny fays) was called Diglito, in thofe
parts where its courfe was flow, but where it began to be
rapid, it took the other name. And, though it mav be dif-
ficult to ihew any juft analogy between the names of hid"
and fuppofmg withal, that the country of Havilah was fome part
of the Eait-Indies, they have run into another error, and tiikcn
Pifon for the Ganges, whereby they make tiic garden of Eden
contdn the greateft part of /^iia, and fome part of Africa like-
wife, which is a iuppoiition quite incredible.. Patrick, ibid.; Bed-
jurd'i Scripture-chronoiOgy ; and Shuckfcul's Coivteclion.
lb) Wells's Hiftorical geography, vol i.
* Benjamin of Navarre tells us, that the province of Klam,
whereof Sufa is the metropolis, end which extends itfelf as far as
the Perlian gulf, at the call oithe mouth of the river Euphrates,
or Tigris, (as you pleafe to term -v.), is died by that name ;
Welts, ibid.
Y 2 del: J
56 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
^- M- l- dckel and Tigris; yet, if we either obferve Mofes's method
n^004m 'of reckoning up the four rivers, or confider the true geo-
Gen. ch. i.g1-aphy of the country, we fhall eafily perceive, that the ri-
from ver. 8. ver Hiddekel could properly be no other, (c) For as, in
'refpect to the place where Mofes wrote, Pilbn lay neareft
to him, and fo, in a natural order, was named firft, and the
Gilion, lying near to that, was accordingly reckoned fe-
cond ; fo, having paned over that ftream, and turning to
the left, in order to come back again to Arabia Petraea,
(where Mofes was) , we meet, in our pafTage, with Tigris in
the third place ; and fo, proceeding weftward through the
lower part of Mefopotamia, come to Pherath, or Euphra-
tes, at laft. For Tigris (we muft remember) parts Afly-
ria from Mefopotamia, and meeting with Euphrates a little
below Babylon, runs along with it in one common channel,
until they feparate again, and make the two ftreams of Pi-
fon and Gihon, which, as we faid before, empty them-
felves into the Perfian gulf.
Euphrates, The fourth river was f Euphrates; but this lay fo
find1the^ournear the country of Judea, and was fo well known to the
rivers. " inhabitants thereof, that there was no occafion for Mofes
particularly to defcribe it. From the courfe of thefe four
rivers however, which he manifeftly makes the bounds
and limits of it, we may perceive, that the land of Eden
muft necefTarily lie upon the great channel which the Ti-
gris and Euphrates make, while they run together, and
where they part again, muft there terminate : for fo the
facred text informs us, viz. that a river went out of Eden
to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and
became into four heads; which words manifeftly imply,
that in Eden the river was but one, i. e. one fingle chan-
nel ; but from thence, i. e. when it was gone out of Eden,
(c) Wells's Geography.
•f- Euphrates is of the fame fignification with the Hebrew Phe-
rath, and is probably fo cal'ed, by reafon of 'the pleafantr.efs, at
leaft the great frukfulnefs, of the adjacent countiy. It muft not be
dilfembled however, that it is one of thofe corrupt names which
our tranllations have borrowed from the Septuagint verfion, and
which probably the Greeks, as Reland [De fitu paradili] judici-
cully oi frrved took from the Pei fians, who often let the word ab
or att, which lignifies writer, before the names of rivers, of which
word, and Erat, (as it is ftill called by the neighbouring people),
the name Euphrates is apparently compounded ; Vuiverf. Hijl.
book i. chap. i.
Chap II. from the Creation to the Flood. 57.
it was parted, and became four ftreams or openings, (for A. M. 1.
fo the Hebrew word may be tranflated), two upwards, and Ant"
two below. For, fuppofing this channel to be our common Gen. ch. a.
centre, we may, if we look one way, i.e. up towards Ba- from ver. 8.
bylon, fee the Tigris and Euphrates coming into it ; and, V— """ V"*— "*
if we look another way, *'. e. down towards the Perfian
gulf, fee the Pifon and the Gihon running out of it.
It feems reafonable then to fuppofe, that this country
of Eden lay on each fide of this gx-eat channel, partly in
Chaldea, and partly in Sufiana : and, what may confirm
us in this opinion, is, the extraordinary goodnels and fer-
tility of the foil. For, as it is incongruous to fuppofe, that
God would make choice of a barren land wherein to
plant the garden of paradife ; fo all ancient hiftorians and.
geographers inform us, that not only Mefopotamia, Chal-
dea, a good part of Syria, and other neighbouring countries,
were the moft pleaiant and fruitful places in the world ;
but modern travellers likewife particularly aflure us, that
in all the dominions which the Grand Seignior has, there
is not a finer country (though, for want of hands, it lies in
fome places uncultivated) than that which lies between Bag-
dat and Baffoi'a, the very tract of ground, which, accord-
ing to our computation, was formerly called the laiid of
Eden.
In what precife part of the land of Eden the garden of in what
paradife was planted, the facred hiftorian feems to intimate, Part 0l ^
by informing us, that it (d) lay eajl-ward in Eden : for he V1^1.
does not mean, that it lay eaftward from the place where paradife;
he was then writing, (that every body might eafilylcnow),
but his defign was to point out, as near as poflible, the
very fpot of ground where it was anciently feated. If
then the garden of paradife lay in the eafterly part of the
country of Eden, and (e) the river which watered it ran
through that province (as the Scripture tells us it did) before
it entered into the garden, then muft it necefTarily follow,
that paradife was lituated on the eaft fide of one of the
turnings of that river, which the conjunction of the
Tigris and Euphrates makes, (now called the river of the
Arabs), and very probably at the lowed great turning.
which Ptolemy takes notice of, and not far from the place
where Aracca (in Scripture called Erec) at prefent is known '
to ftand.
{d) Gen. ii. 8. (<?) Chap. 2. 10.
Thus
5 8 The Hiftory of the B T B L E, Book I,
A. M. r. Thus we have followed the path which * the learned
Ant. Cknf.an(j judicious Huetius, bifhop of Auranches, has pointed
Gen° ch i OLlt to US' an<* have happily found a place wherein to iix
from ver. 8. this garden of pleafure. And, though it mult be owned,
v— -v-^-'that there is no draught of the country which makes the
The altera-rivers exactly anfwer the defcription that Mofes has given
prcfenT ' Cus °^ ^em '> yet> ** ls reafonable to fuppofe, (/) that he
country fu>«wrrote according to the then known geography of the coun-
countedfor.try ; that if the fite, or number of rivers about Babylon,
have been greatly altered fince, this, in all probability, has
been occaiioned by the cuts and canals which the mo-
narchs of that great empire were remarkable for making;
and that all modern obfervators find greater variations in
the fituation of places, and make greater corrections in all
their charts and maps, than need to be made in the de-
fcription of Mofes, to bring it to an agreement even with
our lateft accounts of the prefent country, and rivers near
Chaldca. But I cipoufe this opinion, without any formal
oppofition to the fentiments of other learned men, who
* Upon this occafion, it may' not be improper to fet down
a brief expofition of his opinion in his own words. " Je dis
" done, que la paradis terreftre elicit litue fur le canal que for-
" ment le Tigre ct l'Euphrate joints enfemble, entre le lieu de
** lair jonclion, et cciuy de la feparation, qu'ils font de lews
" eaux, avant que de tomber dans le golphe Periique. Et comme
u ce canal faifoit quelques detours, et quelques courbures,
" je dis, (pour entrer dans une plus grande precifion), quele
" paradis eftoit fitue fur une de ces courbures, et apparemment
** fur le bras meridional de la plus grande, (qui a efte marquee
*' par Agathodcemofl dansles Tables geogtaphiqutsdePtolemee}, ■
« lorfque ce fleuve revient vers l'orient, apres avoir fait un long
*< retonrs vers l'occident, environ a trente deux degrez trente-
" neuf minutes de latitude feptcntrionale, et a quatre vingt de-
*' grez diz minutes de longitude, (felon le delineation de' Aga-
(< thodcemon), a pcu pres laou il place 1'Aracca, qui eft l'Erec
" de TEcriture. L'ajoute encore, que les quatre tefLts de ce
t( fleuve font le Tigre, et l'Knphrate avant kur junction, el lei
u deux canaux, par ou il tombe dans la mer, apres fa divi-
" lion ; que le plus occidental de ces deux canaux eft le Phifon ;
" que le pais de Chavilah, qu'il traverfe, eft .une panie de
" lYirabie Heureufe, et une partie de l'Arabic Defene; que le
« Gehon eft le canal oriental des deux, dont j'a'y parle ; et que
" le pais de Chus eft la Sufiana." Vid. Traite ds la f.tuaiion
dupxrad'is, p. 16.
(f) Shuckford's Connection, book I.
doubtlefs,
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 59
doubtlefs, in this cafe, are left to their own choice; finceA. M. 1.
the lituation of paradife, (as the learned Biihop concludes), An''00Clmf*
whether it he in one part of the world, or in another, can g^-h. ch. z.
Eever be efteemed as an article of our Chriilian faich. from ver. 8.
DISSERTATION II.
Of the image of God in man.
WHoever looks into the hiftory of the creation,
as it is recorded by Mofes, will ibon perceive, that
there was fomething lb peculiar in the formation of man,
as to deferve a divine confultation, and that this peculiarity
chiefly confifts in that \ divine image and iimilitude where-
in it pleated God to make him. This pre-eminence the ho-
ly penman has taken care, (g) in two feveral places, to re-
mind us of, in order to imprint upon us a deeper {cni^ of
the dignity of human nature : and therefore it may be no
improper fubjec~t for our meditation in this place, to con-
fider a little, wherein this divine image or likenefs did con-
iift ; how far it is now impaired in us ; and in what meafure
it may be recovered again.
What the image of God imprefTed upon man in the ftate ^ difficulty
of his integrity was, it is as difficult a matter for us, who to conceive
date our ignorance from our firft being, and were all along wnat th^ l~
bred up with the fame infirmities about us wherein we were Go^ was
born, to form any adequate perception of, {b) as it is for a
peafant bred up in the obfeurities of a cottage, to fancy in
his mind the unfeen fplendors of a court ; and therefore
we have the lefs reafon to wonder, that we find fuch a va-
riety of opinions concerning it.
(i) Some of the Jewilh doctors were fond enough to Different
imagine, that Adam at firft had his head furrounded with opinions
concerning
f The words in the text are, in our image, after our likenefs, lt*
which feem to he much of the fame import; only a learned Jewiih
interpreter has obferved, that the laft words, after our likenefs,
give us to understand, that man was not created properly an 1 per-
fectly in the image of God, but only in a kind of refemb'ance of
. him ; for he dot s not lay, in our likenefs, as he does, in our i-
mage; but, aftir our likenefs ; where the caph of fimilitude (as
they call it) abates fomething of the fenfe of what follows, and
makes it lignify only an approach to the divine likenefs, in under-
ftanding, freedom of choice, fpirituality, immortality, ire ; Pa-
trick's Commentary.
(g) Gen i. 26. 27. (I)) Sooth's fermons, vol. 1. (/)
Cahnct's Dictionary on the word Ada?n.
a
6o The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. i . a vifible radiant glory which accompanied him where-ever he
Ant. Chnf. went, and (truck awe and reverence into the other parts of
G-a0°ch t^ie animal creation ; and that his perfon was fo completely
fiomver.s.p-i'feft and handfome, that even God, before he formed
*— — v*-— 'him, affumed an human body of the moft perfect beauty,
and fo, in a literal fenfe, made him after his own image
and refembiance. But there needs no pains to refute this
groundlefs fancy.
(k) Philo is of opinion, that this image of God was only
the idea of human nature in the divine underftanding, by
looking on which he formed man, juft as an architect a-
bout to build an houfe, firft delineates the fcheme in his
mind, and then proceeds to erect the fabric. But this o-
pinion, how true foever, does not come up to the point in
hand ; becaufe it makes no diftinction between man and o-
ther creatures, (for they were Hkewife made according to
the ideal image in the divine intellect) though it may be ma-
nifeftly the intent of the Scripture-account to give him a
particular preference.
(/) Origen, among ancient Chriftian authors, will have
it to be the Son of God, who is called (m) the cxprefs image of
the Father : but there is, no fuch reftriction in the words of
Mofes. They are delivered (;?) in the plural number; and
therefore cannot, without violence, be applied to one
lingle perfon in the Godhead ; and, among the moderns,
ibme have placed it in holinefs alone ; whilft others have
thought it more properly feated in dominion. But thefe
are only lingle lines, and far from coming to the whole
portraiture.
Its divifion The divine fimilitude, in fhort, is a complex thing, and
and expb- maje Up 0f many ingredients ; and therefore (to give our
thoughts a track in fo fpacious a field) we may diftinguifh
it into natural and fuper natural ; and accordingly, fhall,
I ft, confider the fupernatural gifts and ornaments; and
then, 2dly, thofe natural perfections and accomplifhments
wherein this image of God, impreued on our firft parents,
may be laid to conlift.
(o) An eloquent father of the church has fet this whole
matter before us in a very apt fimilitude, comparing this a-
nimal and living effigies of the King of Kings with the image
(k) De mnndi opifkio. (/) Vid. Edward's Survey of re-
Jigion, vol. i. (/;/) Heb. i. 3. hi) Gsn. i. 26.
Let us make man. (0) Greg. NyfTen. De hominis opificio,
cap. 4.
of
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 61
of an emperor, fo exprefTed by the hand of an artificer, ei- A- M. i.
ther in fculpture or painting, as to reprefent the very drefs At'o l '
and enfigns of royal majefty, 'fuch. as the purple robe, the Gen. ch. i.
fceptre, and the diadem, &c. But as the emperor's image from ver.«
does reprefent, not only his countenance and the figure of v-" ""v-—^
his body, but even his drefs likewife, his ornaments and
royal eniigns ; fo man does then properly reprefent in him-
felf the image and fi.nilituUe of God, when to the accom-
plishments of nature (which cannot totally be extinguished)
the ornaments of grace and virtue are likewife added ; when
" man's nature (as h,; expreflfes it) is not cloathed in purple,
" nor vaunts its dignity by a fceptre or diadem, (for the
" archetype confifts not in fuch things as thefe), but in-
" ftead of purple, is cloathed with virtue, which, of all o-
" thers, is the moft royal veftmen't ; inftead of a fceptre,
" is fupported by able iTed immortality ; and, inftead of a
" diadem, is adorned with a crown of righteoufnefs."
That our firft parents, befides the feeds of natural vir- The fuper-
tue and religion fown in their minds, and befides the natu- nat.ural Part
ral innocence and rectitude wherein they were created, were j? ^u]°
endued with certain gifts and powers Supernatural, infufed
into them by the Spirit of God, is manifeft, not only from
the authority of (p) Chriftian writers, but from the teftimo-
ny of Philo the Jew likewife, who is very full of fublime
notions concerning the divine image, and, in one place
more efpecially, exprefles himfelf to this purpofe. (q) " The
" Creator made our foail," fays he, " while inclofed in a
" body able of itfelf to fee and know its maker ; but, con-
" fidering how vaftly advantageous fuch knowledge would
" be to man, (for this is the utmoft bound of its felicity),
", he infpired into him from above fomething of his own
" divinity, which, being invifible, imprefled upon the in-
" vifible foul its own character ; that fo even this earthly
'* region might not be without fome creature _made after
" the image of God :" and this * he after ts to be the re-
condite fenfe of Mofes's words in the hiftory of man's cre-
ation.
And
(/>) Fid. Bull's State of nun before the fall. {q) Lib. Qiiod
ilet potiori inlid. foleat, p. 171.
* " The great Motes," (ays he, " makes not the ipecics of the
f rational foul to be like to any of the creatures, but pronotfhcetb it
" to be the image of the invifible God, as judging it then to be-
" come the true and genuine coin of God, when it is formed and
u imprefled by the divine feal, the character whereof is the eternal
" Vol. I. Z " word.
thereof.
61 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
a. M. i. And indeed we need go no farther than this hiftory of
Ant. Chnf. Moles, to prove the very point we are now upon. For,
Gen°ch. 2. whereas it acquaints us, that the firft man, in his ftate of
from ver. 8. integrity, was able to fuftain the approaches of the divine
'prefence, and converfe with his maker in the fame language,
it is reafonable to fuppofe, that it was a particular vouch-
fafement to him, to confirm his mind, and enlighten his
understanding in this manner ; becaufe no creature is fit to
converfe with God without divine illumination, nor is any
creature able to bear his majeftic appearance, that is not for-
tified and prepared for it by a divine power.
Whereas it tells us, that (r) Cod brought every living
creature unto Adam, to fee what he wsuld call them, and
whatever he called them, that was the name thereof; it can
hardly be fuppofed (coniidering the circumftances of the
thing) but that this was the effect of fomething more than hu-
man fagacity. That in an infinite variety of creatures, ne-
ver before feen by Adam, he mould be able on a hidden,1
without labour or premeditation, to give names to each of
them, fo adapt and fitted to their refpective natures, as that
God himfelf fhould approve the nomenclature, is a thing
fo aftonifhing, that we may venture to fay, * no fingle man,
among all the philofophers fince the fall, no Plato, no A-
riftotle, among the ancients, no Des Cartes, no Gaffendus,
u word. For God," faith he, ** breathed into his face the breaih
" of life ; fo that he who receives the infpiration mull of neceffity ]
*'' reprefent the image of him that gives it, and for this reafbn it
e< is fakj that man was made after the image of God;" lib. De
plantathne Noe.
(r) Gen.ii. 19.
* The knowledge of Adam is highly extolled by the Jewifli
doctors. Some of them have maintained, that he compofed two
books, one concerning the creation, and another about the nature
of God. They generally believe, that he cotnp« fed the xci.
pfalm ; but fome of, them go farther, and tell us, that Adam's
knowledge was not only equal to that of Solomon and Mofes, but
exceeded even that of angels ; and, for the proof of this, they pro-
duce this ftory — That the angels having fpoke contemptu-
cully of man, God made this anfwer, That the creature
whem they defpifed was their fnperior in knowledge ; and, to con-
vince them of this, that he brought all the animals to them, and
Md th' m name them, which they being not able to do, he propofed
the thing to Adam, and he did it immediatdy: with many more
fancies of the fame ridiculous nature j Saurin's Dij[ertatio?is.
BO
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 63
no Newton, among the moderns ; nay, no academy or roy- A. M. r.
al fociety whatever durffc have once attempted 'x. Ant- c^lf-
Whereas it informs us, that Adam no iboner faw his Gen°di. %.
wife brought unto him, but (j.J he told exactly her origi- fromver.i
nal, and gave her a n mi accordingly, though he lay in the <^-^v"—" ■*
profoundeii: ileep and mienlibiiity ail the while that God
was performing the wonderful operation of taking her out
of his fide ; this can be imputed to nothing, but either an
immediate inlpiration, or fome prophetic viiion (as we faid
before) that was lent unto him whiie he flept. (/) From the
conformity of parts which he beheld in that goodly crea-
ture, and her near ilniilitude to himfelf, he might have con-
jectured indeed, that God had now provided him with a meet
help, which before he wanted ; but it is fcafce imaginable,
how he could fo punctually defcribe her rife and manner of
formation, and lb furely prophefy, that the general event
to his poll: erity would be, for the fake of her fex, to leave
'father and mother, and cleave to their wives, otherwife
than by divine illumination ; " which enabled him {n) (as
one excellently expreffes it) " to view effences in them-
" felves, and read forms without the comment of their
" refpective properties ; which enabled him to fee confe-
*f quences yet dormant in their principles, and effects yet
** unborn, and in the womb of their caules ; which ena-
" bled him, in fhort, to pierce almoil into future contin-
" gencies, and improved his conjectures and fentiments e-
" ven to a prophecy, and the certainties of a prediction."
Thefe feem to be fome of the fupernatural gifts, and As to the
what we may call the chief lines, wherein the image' of body.
God was fo conlpicuous upon Adam's ioul ; and there was
this fupernatural in his body likewife, that (x) whereas it
was made of the dnji of the earth, and in its competition
confequently corruptible, either by a power continually pro-
ceeding from God, whereof [y) the tree oj life w«s the
divine fign and facrament, or by the inherent virtue, of the
tree itfelf, perpetually repairing the decays of nature, it
was to enjoy the privilege of immortality. (2) Not fuch an.
immortality as the glorified bodies of laints J ball hereafter
poflefs (for they fhall be made wholly impafiable, and fet
free from the reach of any outward impreffions and ele-
(j) Gen. :i. 23. (/) Hull's Sermons and difcourfes.
(;/) South's fcrnxns. Vol. I. (x) Hopkins's Doctrine oi'the
two covenants. (y) Gen. ii. 9. (a) Edwaidss
Survey of religion, vol. 1 .
Z 2 ' mental
6'4 The Hiifory of the BIBLE, Bookl.
A. M. i. mental diforders, which may impair their vigour, or en-
Ant, chrif. danger their diffolution), but an immortality by donation,
4004. anj tjie privilege of an eSpecial providence, which engaged
t'romver 8. iticjlf to Sway and over-rule the natural tendency which was
v-~-y-»«jin man's body to corruption ; and, notwithstanding the
contrarieties and diiTenfions of a terreftrial conftitution, to
continue him in life as long as he mould continue himfelf
in his obedience.
The natu- 2* Another chief part of the divine image and fimili-
ral part as tude in our fir ft parents, Avas an univerfal rectitude in all
to the foul, {.jjg faculties belonging to the foul. Now the two great
faculties, or rather efiential acts of the foul, are the un-
der jlo.nd'mg and will ', which, though (for the clearer con-
ception of them) we may Separate, are in their operation
fo blended and united together, that we cannot properly
think them diitinct faculties. It is the fame individual mind
which fees and perceives, as well as chufes or rejects the Se-
veral objects that are prefented to it. "When it does the
former, we call it the under/landing, and when the latter,
the %vi!l ; fo that they are both radically and infeparably the
fame, and differ only in the manner of our conceiving them.
Nay, the cleareft and only distinct apprehenlion Ave are
able to form of them, (even when we come to confider them
Separately), is. only this, that the understanding is chiefly
converfant about intelligible, the will about eligible objects ;
So that the one has truth, and the other goodnefs in its view
and purSuit. There are befides thefe, belonging to the foul
of man, certain paffions and affections, which (according
to the common notion and manner of Speaking) have chief-
_ly their refidence in the fenfitive appetite ; and however,
in this lapfed condition of our nature, they may many times
mutiny and rebel, yet, when kept in due temper and Subor-
dination, are excellent hand-maids to the (a) Soul. Though
the Stoics look upon tbem ail as Sinful defects, and devia-
tions from right reafon ; yet it is Sufficient for us, that our
bleffed Saviour (who took upon him all our natural, but
none of our finful infirmities) was known to have them,
and that our firft progenitor, in the State of his greatest
perfection, was not devoid of them. Let us then lee how
far we may fuppofe that the image of God might be im-
prefled upon each of thefe.
(b) His foul itfelf was a rational fubftance, immaterial,
and immortal ; and therefore a proper representation oi
(<?) South's Sermons, vol. i. (£) Edward's Survey.
that
Chap II. from the Creation to the Flood. 65
that fupreme Spirit, whofe wifclom is infinite, and efTence^^'-
eternal. t 4004.
(c) His underftanding was, as it were, the upper region Gen. ch. %,
of his foul, lofty and {bene ; feated above all fordid affec-from ver/fc
tions, and free from the vapours and difturbances of infe- ~T"V'"— "^
' .■* . , , ,. ,7 • In its un-
nor pafhons. Its perceptions were quick and lively; its derftandin£<
reafonings true, and its determinations juft. A deluded
fancy was not then capable of impofing upon it, nor a
fawning appetite of deluding it to pronounce a falfe and
difhoneft fentence. In its direction of the inferior faculties,
it conveyed its fuggeftions with clearnefs, and enjoined
thein with power ; and though its command over them
was but fuafive, yet it had the fame force and efficacy as if
it had been defpotical.
His will was then very ductile and pliant to the motions Will,
of right reafon. It purfued the directions that were given
it, and attended upon the underftanding, as a favourite
does upon his prince, where the fervice is both privilege
and preferment : and, while it obeyed the underftanding,
it commanded the other faculties that were beneath it ;
gave laws to the affections, and reftrained the pafhons from
licentious fames.
His paflions were then indeed all fubordinate to his willAffe&iooj,
and intellect, and acted within the compafs of their proper
objects. His love was centred upon God, and flamed up
to heaven in direct fervours of devotion. His hatred (if
hatred may be fuppofed in a flate of innocence) was fixed
only upon that which his pofterity only love, jm. His joy
was then the refult of a real good fuitably applied, and fill-
ed his foul (as God does the univerfe) filently and without
noife. His forrow (if any fuppofed difafter could have oc-
cafioned forrow) muft have moved according to the fevere
allowances of prudence ; been as iilent as thought, and all
confined within the clofet of the brtaft. His hope was fed
with the expectation of a better paradife, and a nearer ad-
miflion to the divine prtfence ; and (to name no more) his
fear, which was then a guard, and not a torment to the
mind, was fixed upon him, who is only to be feared, God,
but in fuch a filial manner, as to become an awe without
amazement, and a dread without diftraction.
It muft be acknowledged indeed, that the Scriptures do Confdenrc
not exprefsly attribute all thefe perfections to Adam in his
firft eitate ; but, iince the oppolite weakneiles now hifeft
(c) Soinh's Sermons, vol. 1.
the
66 The Hiftory of the B T B L E, Book I.
A. M. i. the nature of man fallen, we muft conclude (if we will be
Ant. Chrif*. true to ^e YU\e 0f contraries) that thefe, and fuch like ex-
Gen°°ch cellencies, were the endowments of man innocent. And
from ver. 8. if fo, then is there another perfection arifing from this har-
•>— -y— — «>mony, and due compoiure of the faculties, which we may
call the crown and confummation of all, and that is a good
confcience. For, as in the body, when the vital and prin-
cipal parts do their office, and all the fmaller veffels act or-
derly, there arifes a fweet enjoyment upon the whole,
which we call health ; fo in the foul, when the fupreme fa-
culties of the underftan ding and will move regularly, and
the inferior paflions and affections liften to their dictates,
and follow their injunctions, there arifes a ferenity and
complacency upon the whole foul, infinitely beyond all the
pleafures of fenfuality, and which, like a fpicy field, re-
frefhes it upon every reflection, and fills it with a joyful
confidence towards God.
As to the Thefe are fome of the natural lines (as we may diftin-
body , and gjjifl, them) which the finger of God pourtrayed upon the foul
on oraT of man : and (fo far as a fpiritual being may be refembled
ther area- by a corporeal) (d) the contrivance of man's bodily partes
rore8" was with fuch proportion and exactnefs, as moft conduced
to its comelinefs and fervice. His ftature was erect and
raifed, becoming him who was to be the lord of this globe,
and the obferver of the heavens. A divine beauty and
majefty was lhed upon it, fuch as could neither be eclipfed
by ficknefs, nor extinguifhed by death; (<?) for Adam
knew no difeafe, fo long as he refrained from the forbidden
tree. Nature was his phyfician, and innocence and abfti-
nence would have kept him healthful to immortality. And
from this perfection of man's body, efpecially that port and
majefty which appeared in his looks and afpect, there a-
role, in fome meafure, another lineament of the divine
image, viz. (/) that dominion and fovereignty where-
with God inverted him over all other creatures. For there
is even ftill remaining in man a certain terrific character,
(as (g) one calls it), which, affifted by that inftinct of dread
that he hath equally implanted in their natures, commands
their homage and obeifance ; infomuch, that it muft be
hunger or compulilon, or fome violent exafperation or o-
(d) Bate's Harmony of the divine attributes. (e) South 's
fermons, vol. i. (f) Gen. i. 26. (^) Cornelius Agrippa,
De occult, philof.
ther,
Chap. II. from the Creation to the Flood. 6y
ther, that makes them at any time rebel againft their ma- A- M- '-
, , . , i i Ant. Chrii.
ker s vicegerent here below.
This is the beft copy of the divine image that we can Gen. ch. a.
draw : only it may not be amifs to aid, (h) that the holi- from ver. 8.
ncfs of man was a refembl ance of die divine purity, and w'"~v- — '
his happinefs a reprefentation of the divine felicity. And
now, to look over it again, and recount the feveral lines of
it. What was fupernatural in it, was a mind fortified to
bear the divine prefence, qualified for the divine converfe,
fully illuminated by the divine Spirit ; and a body that
(contrary to the natural principles of its compodtion) was
indulged the privilege of immortality. What was natural
to it, was an univerfal harmony in all its faculties ; an un-
derftanding fraught with all manner of knowledge ; a will
fubmitted to the divine pleafure ; affections placed upon
their proper objects ; paflions calm and eafy ; a confeience
quiet and ferene : refplendent holinefs, perfect felicity, and
a body adorned with fuch comelinefs and majefty, as miglK
juftly challenge the rule and jurifdicdion of this inferior
world.
If it be demanded, how much of this image is defaced, How far it
loft, or impaired; the anfwer is, that (/') whatever was fu-mi naircd
pernatural and adventitious to man by the benignity of Al-
mighty God, (as it depended upon the condition of his obe-
dience to the divine command), upon the breach of that
command, was entirely loft : What was perfective of his
nature, fuch as the excellency of his knowledge, the fub-
ordination of his faculties, the tranquillity of his mind, and
full dominion over other creatures, was fadly impaired :
but what was eflential to his nature, the immortality of his
foul, the faculties of intellection and will, and the natural
beauty and ufefulnefs of his body, does ftill remain, not-
withstanding the concuffions they fuftained in the fall.
If it be afked, what we mull do in order to repair this How it may
defaced image of God in us ? the omy anfwer we can have be repaired,
in this cafe, is, from the facred oracles of Scripture. We
muft (A1) be renewed in the fpirit of our mind, and put on the
new man, which after Cod is created in righteoufnefs and
true holinefs : We muft (I) be followers of God as dear
children ; grow in grace, (m) be renewed in knowledge,
and (n) conformed to the image of his f on : We muft (o)
(h) Bate's Harmony. ^i) Hales's Origination of mankind.
(*) Eph. iv. 33. 24. (/) Epli. v. 1. (*») Col. iii. 10. (»)
Kom. viii. 29. (0) 2 Pet. i. 5. <trc.
give
68 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A.M. i. give all diligence to add to our faith virtue', and to virtue ,
Ant. Chri ■^nowlecig(, . and f0 knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance,
Gen. ch. z, patience; and to patience, godlincfs ; and to godlinefs, bro-
(tomvcv.S-therly kindnefs; and to brotherly kindnefs, charity ; that we
'may (p) be complete in him, xvho is the head of all principality
and power : and that (7) as we have borne the image of the
earthly, we may alfo bear the image of the heavenly Adam.
(/>) Col. ii. 10. (q) \ Cor. xv. 49.
CHAP. III.
Of the fall of man.
The History.
THE facred hiftorian indeed gives us no account of
Satan, the chief of the fallen angels, and grand
adverfary of God and man ; but, from feveral other places
in Scripture, we may learn, that he at firft was made
like other celeftial fpirits, perfect in his kind, and happy in
his condition, but that, through pride or ambition, as we
may fuppofe, falling into a crime, (whofe circumftances to
us are unknown), he thence fell into mifery, and, together *
with his accomplices, was banifhed from the regions of blifs ;
that, * in his Hate of exile, having loft all hopes, and de-
fpair ing
* That profane, as well as facred writers, had the fame no-
tion of the fall of wicked angels, is manifeft from a tradition they
had (though mixed with fable) of the Titans and giants invading
heaven, fighting againft Jupiter, and attempting to depofe him
from his throne, for which reafon he threw them down head-
long into hell, where they are tormented with inceflant fire ; and
therefore Empedocles, in the verfes recited by Plutarch, makes
mention of the fate of fome daemons, who, for their rebellion,
were, from the fnmmit of heaven, plunged into the bottom of the
great deep, there to be puniihed as they deferved. To which the
ftory of Ate, who once inhabited the air, but bein^ always
hurtful to man, and therefore hateful to God, was call down -
from thence, with a folemn oath and decree, that (lie mould ne-
ver return again, feems not a little to allude ; Huetius, in Ainetan.
Quxfl.-lib. 2.
* Our excellent Milton reprefents Satan within profpecT; of
Eden> and -near the place where he was to attempt his defperate
enterprize
Ghap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. Op
fpairing of a reconciliation with the Almighty, he abandoned A. M. r.
himfelf to all kind of wickednefs, and, upon the creation e
of man, out of pure envy to the happinefs which God Gen. di.
had designed for him, refolved upon a project to draw him1
into difobedience, and thence into ruin and perdition ; but
how to put his icheme in execution was the queftion. The
woman he perceived (as by nature more ductile and terder)
was the properer fubject for his temptations ; but fome
form he was to affume, to enable him to enter into confe-
rence with her. (r) The figure of a man was the fitteft
upon this occafion ; but then it would have discovered the
iiapofture, becaufe Eve knew very we'd, that her hufband
was the only one of that fpecies upon the' face of the earth.
And therefore considering, that the ferpent, which before
the fall was a bright and glorious creature, and (next to
man) f endued with the greateft talents of fagacity and
underftanding,.
enterprife againtl God and man, falling into doubts, and fundiy
pailions, and then, at laft, confirming himfelf in his wicked de-
sign.
But fay I could repent, and could obtain,
By aft of grace, my former state ; how foon
" Wou'd height recal high thoughts ! how foon unfay
"What feign'd fubniillion fwbre ! Eafe wou'd recant
Vows made in pain, as violent and void
All hope excluded thus, behold, inilcad
Of us, outcait, exil'd, his new delight,
Mankind, created ; and for him this world,
So farewel H >pc ! and, with Hope, farewcl fear !
Farewel Remorfe ! all good to me is loft;
Evil he thou my good ! by thee at leait
Divided empire with heaven's King I hold ;
By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign, J
As man e'er long, and this new world mail know.
Book 4.
(r) L'hiftcire dttVieuxet NouveauTeftameat, par M. Mai fin
•f Milton, who is an excellent commentator upon the whole
hiftory of the fall, brings in the devil, after a long fearch to
find out a beaft proper for his purpolc, concluding at lafl to make
ufe of the ferpent.
Him, after long debate (irrefolute
Ol thought revo'.v'd) his final fentencc chofe
Fit veiTcl, fitfltft imp of fraud in whom l'
To enter, and his dark fuggeftiotis hide
From (harpeft fight: for in the wily make
Whatever Heights, none wou'd fafpieious mark,
Vol. 1. A a
yo The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book 1
A. M. i. underfba'nding, would be no improper inftrument for his
Ant. chrif. purp0fe, he uiurped the organs of one of thefe, and through
Gen ch - tnem ne addrefled himfelf to the woman, the firft oppor-
i tunity when he found her alone.
After * feme previous compliments (as we may ima-
gine) and congratulations of her happy ftate, the tempter
put on an air of great concern, and itemed to intereft him-
felf not a little in her behalf, by wondering why God, who
hid lately been fo very bountiful to them, lhould. deny them
As from his wit, and native fubtilty
Proceeding ; which in other beaft obferv'd,
Doubt might beget of diabolic pow'r
A&ive within, beyond the fenfe of brute. Book 9.
The wlfdom and fubtilty of the ferpent are frequently men-
tioned in Scripture, as qualities which diftinguiih it from other
animals ; and feveral are the inilances, wherein it is faid to dif-
cover its cunning, ift, When it is old, by fqueezing itfelf be-
tween two rocks, it can fir ip off its old Ikin, and fo grows young
again. 2dly, As it grows blind, it has a fecret to recover its
light by the juice of fennel, ^dly, When it is affaulted, its chief
care is to fecure its head, becaufe its heart lies under its throat,
and very near its head. And, /tthly, When it goes to drink at a
fountain, it firft vomits up all its poifon, for fear of poifoning
itfelfas it is drinking; with fome other qualities of the like
nature ; Calmet's Dictionary.
But a modern author of our own has given us this further
reafon for the devil's making ufe of the ferpent in this affair,
viz. That as no infinite being can actuate any creature, be-
yond what the fitnefs and capacity of its organs will admit; fo,
the natural fubtilty of the ferpent, and perhaps the pliablenefs,
and forkinefs of its tongue (which we know enables other crea-
tures to pronounce articulate founds), added to the advantages of
its form, made it the fitteft inftrument of delufion that can be i-
magined ; Revelation examined.
* Milton has very curioufly defcribed the artful and infinuating
carriage of the ferpent, upon his firft approach to fpeak to Eve.
He bolder now, uncall'd, before her flood,
But as in great admiring : oft he bow'd
His turret creft, and (leek enamell'd neck,
Fawning; and lick'd the ground whereon ihe trod.
His gentle duin expretlions turn'd at length
The eye of Eve, to mark his play : he, glad
Of her attention gain'd, with ferpent tongue
Organic, or impulfe of vocal air,
His fraudulent temptation thus began. Book 9.
the
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. y i
tke ufe of a tree *, whofe fruit was fo tempting to the eye, A. M. r.
fo grateful to the palate, and of fuch fovereign quality to A"*- Cbrif.
make them wife : and when Eve replied, that fuch was GJ.
the divine prohibition, even under the penalty of death it- ■__ — — ,^/
felf *, he immediately fubjoins, that fuch a penalty was an
empty threat, and what would never be executed upon
them ; that God would never deffcroy the -work of his own
.bands, creatures fo accomplished as they were, for {o
flight a tranfgrefuon ; and that the fole intent of this prohi-
bition was, to continue them in their prefect ffcate of de-
pendence and ignorance, and not admit them to that extent
of knowledge, and plenitude of happinefs, which their
eating of this fruit would confer upon them : for God him-
* The firft words in his addrefs are, Tea, hath God /aid, ye
Jl)ali not eat, &c. which do not look fo much like the beginning,
as the conciufion of a difcourfe, as the Jews thcmfelves have ob-
ferved : and therefore it is not improbable, that the tempter, be-
fore he fpake thefe words, reprcfented hitnfelf as one of the
heavenly court, who was come, or rather fent, to congratulate
the happinefs which God had bellowed on them in paradile ; an
happinefs fo great, that he could not eafily believe he had denied
them any of the fruit of the garden ; Patrick's Commentary.
* Burnet, in his Archaologia phUofophicjr, has given us the whole
dialogue (as he has framed it at kail) between the ferpent and
Eve ; which, though a little too light and ludicrous for fo lolemn an
occalion, yet, becauie the book is not in every one's hands, I
have thought fit to let down in his own words. " Serp. Salve
'* pulchcrrima, quid rerum agis fab hac umbra ? Ev. Ego hujas
" arboris pulchrimdinem contemplpf. Serp, Jucundum quideni
u fpeclaculum, fed multo jucundiores fruftus : guftaihn', tnea do-
" mina ? Ev. Minime vero : Deus nobis interdixit efu hujus arbo-
" ris. Serp. Quid audio ! Quis ifle Deus, qui fuis invidet innocuas
u naturas delicias ? nihil fuavius, nihil falubrius hoc fvuctu Quanr-
" obrem interdiceret, nifi per legem ludicram f 5v. Qtunimo fub
t( pceua mortis interdixit. Serp. Rt.ni male capis proail dubio : ni-
** hil habet mortiferi haec arbor, fed potius divini aliqnki, ct fu-
" pra vires communis naturae. Ev. Ego non habeo quid tibi reipbn-
" deam, fed adibo virum. Serp. Quid virum iutcrpellas de re tan*
" cilia ? Ev. Utarne ? Quid pulchrius hoc porno? Quam fuave
ft redolet ? Sed forfan male fapit. Serp. Eft efca, crede mihi, afl-
" gelis non indigna. Fac periculum, et, ii male fapit, rejicito,
" et me infuper habeto pro mendacillimo. Ev. Experiar; e!L
" quidem grauffimi faporis: non me fefellifli. Porrige hue akc-
xt rum, ut viro afFeram. Serp. Commodnm meminilli. En tibi
" alterum : adi virum. Vale, bratuia. — Ego intcrea elabar, il-
eum caetcraj" lib. 2. cap. 7.
A a •
72 The Hitlory of the BIBLE, Book I,
A. M. i. felfknew, that f that the proper ufe of this tree was, to il-
1 ' lumiiiate the uhderftandinot, and advance all the other fa-
4004. „ O %
i.eu.ch. 3. culties or the lbul to fuch a iublimity, that the brighteft
'angels in heavens fhould not furpafs them ; nay, that they
fhould approximate the Deity it'felf, in the extent of their
intellect, and independence of their being. In fhort, he
acquainted five, that the jealoufy of the creator was the
fole motive of his prohibition ; that the fruit had a virtue
to impart f anuniver&l knowledge to the perfon, who ta-
iled it; and that ' God, who would admit of no
competitor, had reicrved this privilege to himfelf. Above
all, he engaged her to fix her eyes upon the forbidden fruit ;
he remarked to her its plcafantnefs to the iight, and left her
to guefs at its delicioufneis. Eve, in the very midft of the
temptation, had a freedom cf choice •, but the fond con-
ceiti of knowing good and &uil, of becoming like God, and
of changing her felicity (great indeed, but fubordinate) for
an independent ftate of happinefs, and efpecially the deceit-
ful bait of prefent fenfuai pleasure, blinded her reafon by
degrees ; and as fhe flood gazing on the tree, filled all her
•f- It is very well worth oar obfervatiou, how ambiguous and ,
deceitful the promife, which the tempter makes our rirft parents,
was : for, by opening ihe eyes, (he underftood a farther degree of
wifdom, as the fame phrafe imports, Acts xxvi. 18.; and Eph. i.
18.; but hp meant their perceiving their own rnifery, and
confufion of confeience, as fell out immediately : by being like
gods, (he undcrftood the happinefs of God the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghoil, as appears by the words of God himfelf, ver. 22.;
but he meant it of angels, (frequently flyled Eiohim, i. e, gods),
and of fuch fallen angels as himfelf, who are called principalities
and powers, Col. h. 15. And by knowing good and evil, ihe un-
derftood akind of diyine omaifcience, or knowing all manner of
things, (as the phrafe frequently iignifies) ; but he meant it, that
thereby me mould experience the difference between good and
evil, between happinefs and miferyj which ihe did to her coft.
4 method this ofconnisg and referve, which he has pracdifed
in his oracular re (ponies ever fince ; Ainfwortti s annotations.
■f The words good and evil, when applied to knowledge,
comprehend every thing that is poffible for man to know; for
wi tn iii of Tekoa, in her addrefs to King David, tells him
[2 Sam. xiv. t 7.] as an angel cf God is my Lord the King, to dif-
eern good and baa 5 ind that by the terms good and bad, we
are to tmderftand all things, the 20th vcrfe of that chapter will
inform us, where ihe continues her compliment, and fays, My
■ ,;:sivip, according io the iDifdwn of. an angel, to know all
• it are 01: ihe earth ; Lc CJerc's Commentary.
thoughts,
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 73
thoughts, and the whole capacity of her foul. The fight A. VLi 1.
of the fruit provoked her defire ; the fuggeftions of the ^T ■
tempter urged it on; her natural curioilty raifed her Gen. ch.
longing ; and the very prohibition itfelf did fomething to '
inflame it : fo that, at all adventures, fhe put forth her
hand, and plucked, and eat.
Earth felt the wound, and nature from her feat
Sighing, through all her works, gave figns of woe,
That all was loft (j).
She however had no fuch fenfe of her condition ; but,
fancying herfelf already in the poiTefiion of that chimerical
happineis, wherewith the devil had deluded her, fhe in-
vited her huiband (who not unlikely came upon her while
fhe was eating) to partake with her. (t) The moft ablurd
arguments appear reafonable, and the meft unjuft defires
equitable, when the perfon, who propofes them, is beloved :
the devil therefore knew very well what he did, when he
made his firft application to the woman. Her charms
and endearments, which gave her the afcendency over her
hufband's affection, would be of more efficacy (he knew)
than all the fubtile motives which he could fuggeft ; and
therefore he made ufe of her to engage him jn the like de-
fection : and after fome fmall reluctancy, (as we may fup-
pofe), he, (u) like an uxorious man, was by her entreaties
prevailed on, (contrary to the fenfe of his duty, and con-
victions of his own breaft), to violate the command, mere-
ly becaufe fhe had done it, and to fhare whatever fate
God's indignation for that tranfgrefilon fhould bring upon
her. Thus the follicitations cf the woman ruined the man,
as the inchantments of the tempter ruined the woman.
She held forth the fair enticing fruit to him ; and he, ra-
th^- than fee her periih alone, chofe to be involved in the
fame common guilt (x).
Earth trembled from her entrails, as again
In pang?, and nature gave ■■. fecphd groan ;
Skylowr'd, and, murmuring thunder, fome fad drops
\v ept, at compleating of the mortal fin (y.)
(j) Mi'ton, Book 9. (t) Saurin's Di/Iertati^ns.
(a) Mede's Dircpurfes. (.\) E Survey of religion.
(;,) Milton, Book 9.
For
74 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book!
A. m. i. por as foon as tiiey hatj eaten of the forbidden fruit,
1 r 'f their eyes were opened, but in a fenfe quite different from
3.\vhat the tempter had prornil'ed them, viz. to fee their own
/folly, and impendent miferies, and make fad reflections
upon what they had done. They had acquired knowledge,
indeed, but it was a knowledge arifing from forrowful ex-
perience, that the ferpent had beguiled them both, and
drawn them from the good of happinefs and innocence,
which they knew before, into the evil of fin and mifery,
which (until that fatal moment) they had no conception of,
(z) They faw a living God provoked; his grace and fa-
vour forfeited ; his likenefs and image defaced ; and their
dominion over other creatures withdrawn from them.
They faw, very probably, the heavens grow angry and
ftormy ; the angel of the Lord Handing with his fword,
threatening them with vengeance ; and the devil himfelf,
who before had feduced them, throwing off* the difguife,
and now openly infulting over them. They faw that f they
were
f Le Ckrc obferves, that it is reputed an elegancy in the fa-
cred writing to make ufe of the figure, which rhetoricians call
antanaclafis, whereby they continue the fame word or phrafe
that went before, though in a quite different fenfe; as the learned
Grotius upon John i. 16. and Hnmmond on Matth. viii. 22. have
abundantly (hewn; and for this reafon he fnppofes, that Mofes
repeats their eyes zvere opened, which the devil had ufed before,
though he means it in a fenfe quite different from the former.
(z) Miller's Hiffory of the church.
•f Thofe who take the word naked in a literal fenfe, fuppofe,
that upon the fall, the air, and other elements, immediately
became intemperate, and diforderly ; fo that our firft parents foon
knew, or felt, that they were naked, becaufe the fun fcorched
shem, the rain wet them, and the cold pierced them. Fid.
Patrick's Commentary ; and King on the origin of evil. |jut
others tske the expreffion rather in a figurative fenfe, viz. to
denote the commiffion of fach fins, as man in his fenfes may
well be afhamed of: and to this purpofe they have obferved, that
when Moles returned from the mount, and found that the people
had made and cenfecrated a golden image, the expreffion in
Scripture is, That the people -were naked, i.e. were become viie
and reprobate finners, (for fo the word y0ftVc{ fignifies in the
New Teftament, Rev. xvi. J 5.) ; for Aaron had made them na-
ked, unto their jl> 071: e, among their enemies, Exod. xxxii. 25. ; Fid.
Le Clerc's Commentary. Now thofe who take it in this fenfe,
hzve obferved farther, that by the word nakedvejs (according '■>
the
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. j$
were naked; were (tripped of all their intellectual and moral A- M. i.
ornaments; were fubje£led to irregular appetites and in- at" Chnf*
ordinate lulls ; and blufhed to fee their external glory fo Gen. ch. 3.
much debafed, that J they took and plattted together fig-
leaves, (which in eaftern countries are very large), in
order to make themfelves £ fuch coverings as might both
protect
the ufual modefty of the Hebrew tongue) are meant all the irre-
gular appetites to venereal pleafures, which Adam and Eve were
Grangers to in their itate of innocence, but began now firil to ex-
perience, and which the intoxicating juice of the forbidden tree
mieht very probably excite ; Nicholls's Conference, vol. I.
As with new wine intoxicated both,
They fwim in mirth, and fancy that they feel
Divinity within them, breeding wings,
Wherewith to fcom the earth e but that falfe fruit
Far other operation firll difplay'd,
Carnal defire inflaming : he on Eve
Began to call lafcivious eyes, ihe him
As wantonly repay'd, in luft they burn. Milton, book 9.
X Our tran nation indeed tells us, that our firft parents feived
fig-leaves together, which gives occafion to the ufual fncer, What
they could do for needles and thread P But the original word tapar
fignifie* no more than to put together, apply, or fit, as is 'plain
from Job xvi. 15. and Ezck. xiii- 28. ; and the word gneteh,
which we render leaves, fignifies alfo branches of trees, fu.ch as
Were to make booths or bowers, Neh. xviii. 15. So that, to ad-
apt or fit Ranches (which is tranllated feiving leaves together)
is only to twill and plat the flexible branches of the fig-tree round
about their waifts, in the manner of a Roman crown, for which
pnrpofe the fig-tree, of all others, was the moft ferviceable, be-
caufe, as Pliny tells us, [1. 16. c. 24.] it haJ folium maximum
er nmbrofifimum ; Patrick's Commentary.
% The word m the tranllation is aprons : but fince in the ori-
ginal it may lignify any thing that covers or unrounds us, it may
rvery whit as properly here be rendered a boiver, or arbor, cover-
ed with the blanches of the fig tree wherein the fallen pair
thought to have hid themfelves from the fight of God ; to which
interpretation the fubfequent verfe fcems to give fome countenance ;
Le Clerc's Comvie?itary. Nor is Milton's defcription of the fig-
Tree uninclinable to this fenfe :
Such as at this day fpreads her arms,
Branching fo broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
AbotU
76 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book L
A. M. i. protect tliem from the injuries of the weather, and conceal
Ant. Chnf. their ihame. Nor was their guilt attended with ihame on-
Gen°°ch ^' but with fear like{rafis£ and many diimal apprehenfions.
f Before they finned, they no fooner heard the voice of the
Lord coming towards them, but they ran out to meet him,
and, with an humble joy, welcomed his gracious vifits ;
but now * God was become a terror to them, and they a
terror to themfeives. Their confeiences fet their fin before
them in its blackeft afpc6l ; and, as they had then no hopes
of a futm-e mediator, fo there remained nothing for them but
a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indigna-
tion, ready to devour them. And accordingly, no fooner
did they hear the found of God's majeftic prefence drawing
nearer and nearer to the place where they were, (which
happened towards the cool of the evening) , but they im-
mediately betook themfeives to the thickeft and clofeft pla-
ces they could find in the garden, in order to hide them-
feives from his inflection ; for fo far were they fallen in
their underftanding, as never to reflect, that all places and
things are naked and open to the eyes of him, with whom they
had to do.
About the mother-tree ; a pillar'd {hade
High over-arch' d, and echoing walks between.
There oft the Indian herdfman, fhunning heat,
Shelters in cool, and tends his pafturing herds
In loop-holes, cut thro' thickeft fhade. Book 9.
■f The word voice may be equally rendered noife : and fince
God's ufual way of notifying his prefence afterwards was either by
a fmall Ji ill voice or noife, 1 Kings, xix 12. or by a noife like
ths.t of great -waters, Ezek. i. 24. or Wke the n/ft/:ng of wind in
the trees, 2 Sam. v. 24. wc may reafonably fuppofc, that it was
cither a foft gentle noife like a breeze of wind among the trees of
paiachfe, or a lender one, like the murmuring of fome large river,
which gave Adam notice of God's approaching ; he Clerc's Com-
menta iji
* Mikon makes Adam, upon this occafion, exprefshimfelf in this
manner :
How fhall I bthold the face
Henceforth of God or angel, erft with joy
And raptures oft beheld ? O ! might I here
In folitude live favage, in fome g!:idc
Obfcur'd, where higheft woods (i'npenetrable
To flar or fun-light) fpread their umbrage broad,
And brown as evening ! Cover me, ye pines,
Ye cedars, with innumerable boughs
Hide me, where I may never fee them more. Book 9.
Out
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. yy
Out of their dark retreat, however, God calls the two A. m. t.
criminals, who, after a Ihort examination, acknowledge Ant- Chrifi
their guilt indeed, but lay the blame of it, the man upon G 4°°4-
the woman, and the woman upon the ferpent : where- 1_ --,—'_/
upon God proceeds to pronounce fentence upon them, but
firft of all, upon the devil, as being the prime offender.
The devil had made the ferpent the inflrument of his de-
ception ; and therefore f God firft degrades it from the
noble creature it was before this fact to a foul creeping
animal, which, inftead of going erect, or flying in the
air, was fentenced to creep upon its belly, and thereupon
become incapable of eating any food but what was mingled
with duft. And to the devil, who lay hid under the co-
vert of the ferpent, (and therefore is not exprefsly named),
he declares, that how much foever he might glory in his
prefent conquefl, a time fliould come, when a child, de-
scended from the feed of that very fex he had now de-
feated, i. e. the Messias, fliould ruin all his new-ere£ted
empire of fin and death ; and, (a) Living /polled princi-
palities and powers, Jhoidd make a /hew of them openly,
triumphing over them in his croj's. This could not fail of
being matter of great comfort and confolation to Adam
and Eve, to hear of the conqueft of their malicious enemy,
before their own fentences were pronounced ; * which, to
the
•f- Jofephus, in the beginning of his Antiquities, pretends,
that all creatures ufing the fame language, and confequently be-
ing endued with reafon and underftanding, the ferpent, excited
by envy, tempted Eve to fin, and, among other things, received
this fignal punilliment, viz. that it fliould be deprived of its feet,
and ever after crawl upon the ground, which Aben Ezra, and
feveral other Rabbins, confirm : but what is certain in the fer-
pent's punifhment, is this that it actually eats the dry and dufty
earth, (as Bochart and Pliny tell us), otherwife we can hardly
conceive how it could fublift in dry and landy defarts, to which
God, in a good meafure, has condemned it ; Revel, examined.
(a) Col. ii. 15.
* It is remarkable, that a woman is the only creature we
know of, who has any forrow in conception. This Ariftotle ex-
prefsly alhrms, and only excepts the inftance of a mare concei-
ving by an afs, and, in general, where there is any thing monftrous
in the foetus. Other creatures, wc find, are in more perfecl.
health, and ftrengtb, and vigour, at that time, than before ;
bat Ariftotle reckons up ten different maladies, to which the
Vol. I. B b worn °
7 3 The Hifbry of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.M. i. the woman, was forrow in conception, pain in child -
Ant0Jhrif' birth, and conftant fubjection to her hufband's will ; to
Gen. ch. 3. the man, * a life of perpetual toil and flavery ; and to
/them both, as well as all their pofterity, a temporal death,
at the time appointed.
Nor was it mankind only which felt the fad effects of
the induction of fin, but * even the inanimate part of the
creation
wc.-nan is then naturally fubject. And, as fhe is fubject to fick-
nefs in the time of her conception, fo it is farther remarkable,
that fhe brings forth her offspring with more pain and agony than
any other creature upon earth, even though (lie has fome advan-
tages in her make above other creatures, that might promife her,
in this cafe, an alleviation : and therefore we may fuppofe, that,
upon God's faying to the woman, hi forrow thou frail bring forth
children, a real effect did immediately accompany the word fpo-
ken, and caufc fuch a change in the woman's body, as, in the
comfe of nature, mud have occr.fioned the extraordinary pain
here fpoken of ; for fo we find, that in the fentence pronounced
agataft the ferpent, againft the earth, and againft man, the word
pf God was not only declarative, but executive likewife, as pro-
ducing a real change by a new modification of matter, or con-
formation of parts j Revelation examined; and Bibliotheca Bi-
blica, vol. I.
* The words in the text are, hi the fweat of thy face fl:ali
thou eat bread, ver. 19. From whence tome conclude, that tlie^g
earth, before the fall, brought forth fpontanecully, (as feveral
cf the ancient poets have defcri bed the golden age), and without
any pains to cultivate it; as indeed there needed none, fmce all
things at firft were, by the divine power, created in their full
perfection. What labour would have been necelfary in time,
if man had continued innocent, u c do not know ; only we may
obferve from the words, that lefs pains would then have been re-
quired, than men are now forced to take for their fuilenance.
The wil'dom, goodnefs, and juftice of God, however, is very
confpicnou , in decreeing, that toil and drudgery mould be
the confequence of departing from an eafy and lational obe-
dience ; in making the earth lefs defirable to man, when his
guilt had reduced him to the necelfity of leaving it ; and in
keeping in order thofe paffions and appetites which had now
broke loofe from the reftraint of reafon, by fubduing their im-
petuosity with hard labour ; Patrick's Cc?nme?itary ; and Revela-
tion examined.
* JVIilton brings in God, foon after the fall, appointing his
holy angels to make an alteration in the courfe of the celeftial bo-
dies, and to poifefs them with noxious qualities, in order to de-
stroy
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 79
creation differed by it. The fertility of die earth, and fe-A- M- '•
renity of the air, were changed ; the elements began to
jar; the feafons were intemperate, and the weather grew Gen. ch. 3.
uncertain : fo that to defend themfelves againft the immo- <
derate heat, or cold, or wind, or rain, which now began
to infeil the earth, our firfi parents were inltrucled by God
* how to make themfelves veftments of the fkins of thofe
beafts, which, very probably, they were appointed to facri-
fice,
ftroy the fertility of the earth, and thereby punilh man for his
tranfgreffion.
— ; The fun
Had its firft precept fo to move, fo fhine,
As might affecT: the earth with cold and heat
Scarce tolerable ; and from the north to call
Decrepid winter ; from the fouth to bring
Solftitial fummer's heat. To the blank moon.
Her office they prefcrib'd, to th' other five .
Their planetary motions and afpccts
Of noxious efficacy, and when to join
In fynod unbenign ; and taught the fixd
Their influence malignant when to (hower :
Which of them, riling with the fun, or falling,
Should prove tempefluous. To the winds they {et
Their corners, when with blufter to confound
Sea, air, and fliore : the thunder then to roll
With terror through the dark aerial hall
Thefe changes in the heavens, though flow, projace
Like change on fea, and land ; fiderial blaft,
Vapour, ami mill, and exhalation hot,
Corrupt, and pcftilent. Book 10.
* It cannot be denied^ but that the fkins of beafts were a ve-
ry ancient fort of cloathing. Diodorus Sicuius [lib. i.J where he
introduces Hercules in a lion's fkin, tells us no lefs ; and the au-
thor to the Hebrews makes mention of this kind of habit: but
the Jewilh doifors have carried the matter fo far, as to maintain,
that as Adam was a prieft, this coat of his was his prieftly gar-
ment which he left to his potlerity : fo that Abel, Noah, Abra-
ham, and the reft of the patriarchs, facrificed in it, until the time
that Aaron was made high prieft, and had peculiar veftments
appointed him by God. But all this fine fiction of theirs falls to
the ground, if we can but fuppofe with fome, that by the word
which we render coats, we may not improperly underftand teats,
or arbors, to defend our firft parents from the violence of the
heats, and fuch hafty fhowers as were common in the couq-
B b 2 trie3
So the Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. flee, cither in confirmation of the covenant of grace,
Ant. Clmi. couched in the fentence pronounced againft the ferpent, or
as a reprefentation of that great expiatory facrifice, which,
i in the fulncls of time, God might inform them, was to be
offered as a propitiation for the fins of all mankind : and,
upon this account, it very likely was, that Adam changed
his wife's name (who, as fome think, was called Iffcha
before) into that of Eve, as believing that God would make
her the mother of all mankind, and of the promifed feed in
particular, by whom he hoped for a reftoration both to
himfelf and his pofterity, and to be raifed from death to a
flate of happinefs and immortal life.
Confidering then \ what a fad cataftrophe this tranf-
greffion of theirs had brought upon human nature, and
that
tries adjacent to paradife, and where the winter was not fo cold
as to require cos"ts iriade of (kins, which would certainly be too
warm. That they could not be the (kins of flam animals is very
manifeft, becaufe as yet there were no more than two of each
fpecies, male and female, nor had they propagated. And there-
fore others have imagined, that if the original word mull mean
coats, they were more probably made of the bark of trees, which
are called Stp.uctTu, the funis of 'them, as well as the hides of ani-
mals. Vid. Le Clerc, and PatiiclCs Commentary ; and ' Bibliotheca
Bib. vol. i.
f The words in the text are thefe, Behold the man is beco?nc
as one of us, to know good and evil ; and now, left he put forth
his hand, and tafte of the tree of life, and live J or ever, Gen.
iii. 22. The former of thefe fentences is held by moft inter-
preters to be an irony, fpoken in allnfion to the devil's manner
of templing Eve, ver. 5. ; but, from the latter part of the words,
this qucftion feeins to arife, " Whether Adam and Eve, if they
'* had tailed of the tree of life after their tranl'ireffion, (honld
" have lived for ever?" Now it is very manifeft, that by the
violation of God's command, they had juftly incurred the pe-
nalty, /;; the day thou eatcjl thereof, thou /halt furely die, i. e.
ihalt furely become mortal : from whence it follows, that whe-
ther they had, or had not eaten, of the tree of life, they were,
the moment they fell, fubjecT: to the neceffity of dying, nor could
the virtue of the tree, be it what it would, preferve them from
ihe execution of the fentence ; and therefore thefe latter words,
Jnd now, left he put forth his hand, and tafte of the tree of life,
mid live for ever, are, in like manner, fpoken farcaftically, and
as . if God had faid, " Left the man Should vainly fancy in him-
" felt*, that by eating of the tree of life, he fliall be enabled to
" Uve for ever, let us remove this conceit from him, by remo-
" ving
Chap. III. From the Creation to the Flood. 81
that fuch a fcene of complicated mifcry might not be per- A, M. i.
petuated by means of the tree of life, God, in his great Ant. Chrif.
mercy, found it convenient to remove them from the gar- Ge*00ch ^
den of paradife into that part of the country lying towards ,
the eaft, where at firft he created them ; and that he might
prevent their meditating a return, he fecured every paffage
leading to it with a guard of angels, (fome of which fly-
ing to and fro in the air, in bright refulgent bodies, feemed
to flafh out fire on every fide, or to relemble the f vibra-
tions of a flaming fword) that thereby he might deter them
from
" ving him from this place, and for ever debarring him from any
" hopes of coming at that tree again ;" E/lius in difif. /oca.
Examples of God's fpeaking by way of fircafm, or upbraid-
ing, are not uncommon in Scripture : but confiilering that, in
the tnidft of judgment, he here thinketh upon mercy ; that before
the fentence againft our firft parents, he promifes them a refto-
ration, and after fentence paft, does neverthelefs provide them with
cloathing; fome Tuve thought, that the words, by taking the o-
riginal verb [vid. Gell's eifay) to fignify the time paft, (as it may
well enough do), are rather an expreilion of pity and compaffion,
and of the fame import as if God had laid, " The man was once,
" like one of us, to know good, and to purfue it ; to know evil,
" and to avoid it ; (for that is the perfection of moral knowledge);
" but behold how he is now degenerated ! And therefore, left
" this degeneracy Ihould continue upon him, and he become ob-
" durate, the beft way will be to ieclude him from the tree of
" life, by expelling him from paradife." But this opinion feems
to afcribe too much to the power of the tree, and is not iupported
with authority equal to the former.
f What is meant by the flaming fword reprefented to be in
the hands of the cherubims, at rhe entrance of the garden of
paradife, is variouily conjectured by learned men : but, of ali
clfays of this kind, that of Tertuliian, who thought it was the
Torrid Zone, is the nioft unhappy ; Tertut. JpoL cap 47. The
words of Laclantius are [Jullit. Divin. 1. 2. c. 12.] Jpfavi pa-
radifum igne circumvallavit, He encowpaffed paradife -with aiuall
of fire: from whence a learned man of our nation, pretend-
ing that the original word fignifies a dividing fame, as well
as a flaming fword, fuppofes, that this tlame was an acceniiou
of fome combuftible matter round about the garden, which ex-
cluded all comers to it, till fuch time as the beauty of the
place was defaced ; Nicholh's Conference, vol. 1. Some Rab-
bins are of opinion, that this flaming fword was an angel, found-
ing their fentiments on that pr.flage in the Pfalms, where it is laid,
that
8 2 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. i. from any thoughts of ever attempting a re-entrance, until
Ant. Chnf ^ fhould think fit to deftroy, and utterly lay wafte the
Gen. ch. 3. beauty of the place. Thus fell our firft parents, and, from
> the happieft condition that can be imagined, plunged them-
felves and their pofterity into a ftate of wretchednefs and
corruption : for, as from one common root, (b) fin en-
tered into the world, and death by fin ; Jo death pa/Jed upon
all men, forafmuch as all have finned, and been defiled by
this original pollution.
The Objection.
The objec- " T}UT, upon fuppofition that the ftate of perfection
tion agamft u fj wherein our firft parents were created, was really as
countofth" " compleat as is pretended ; we cannot weli conceive how
fall. " it was poflible for them to fall from it at all, or at leaft
" in fo lhort a fpace as the Scripture-account reprefents it,
" after their creation. Some great and enormous offence,
" one would fuppofe, they had committed; but who could
'* dream, that the bare eating of a little forbidden fruit could
" be fo provoking, as to bring upon them that wretched
" depravity of nature, which ever fince we have been
" complaining of? The counfels of God are a great deep',
" but what reafon can be given, why he iliould put their
" virtue upon the trial, when he could not but forefee,
" that they certainly would be foiled by the wiles of the
" tempter ? Or, if a probation was thought neceffary, why
" was their abftinence from the fruit of a certain tree made
" the teft of their obedience, when fo many more mo-
*' mentous precepts might have befitted their condition as
" well ? We may account the ferpent as fubtle as we pleafe,
" but how he could over-reach mankind in the perfection
" of their knowledge ; or, if the devil lay concealed in the
" ferpent's body, what inducement he could have to af-
** fume the form of fo deteftable a creature; and what.
. " fhould hinder Eve from not being frightened when fhe
that Cod maketh his angels fpirits, and his viinijlers a flaming
fire, Pfal. civ. 4. And hereupon another learned man of our
nation has imagined, that this flaming fvvord (which was account-
ed by the Jews a lecond angel) was of a different kind from the
cherubim, viz. a feraph, or flaming angel, in the form of a fly-
ing fiery ferpent, whofe body vibrated in the air with luftre, and
may fitly be defcribed by the image of fuch a fvvord ; Tennifon of
Idolatry
(b) Rom. v. 12.
" heard
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 83
il heard him begin to fpeak, and inftead of flaying to talk A. M.
" with him. flee immediately to her hufband, we cannot c™'1'-
" conceive. It the devil, in this difguife, was like to be Gc
u an over-match for her, why did God admit of fuch an <
" unequal conflict ? Or, if the conflict was to be, why did
" not he fend her fuccours from above ? When fo great a
" price, as the lives of all mankind, was fet upon her
" head, why did not he enable her to overcome the wiles.
" of the tempter ? Why did not he order a guard of an-
" gels, or fome more powerful influxes of his holy Spirit,
" to affift and fecure her ftanding { But if the thing was
" fo, that God decreed her fall, it is hard meafure, one
*' would think, to condemn her and her pofterity for it ;
" and looks as. if he was angry beyond bounds, when he
" curfes the earth, and the ferpent, which were both in-
" capable of fin, and confequently no ways culpable ; when
4< he drives the unhappy pair out of paradife with fuch pre-
" cipitancy, and leaves them to fhift for themfelves in a na-
" ked barren land ; and (what is worft of all) when he en-
** tails their fin, and confequent depravation, upon their
" innocent pofterity, until the end of the world; and all
" this for no greater crime than eating an apple or two,
" when robbing an orchard, now-a-days, is accounted a
f* crime not worth a whipping : to fay nothing of the
" oddnefs of that part of the fentence, wherein ferpents
" were appointed to bite men by the heel, and men to
-•' bruife them on the head. This certainly can never be
" right in the letter ; and therefore our fafeft way will be,
" to take ijhis whole account of Mofes in a figurative and
" allegorical fenfe ; and to fuppofe, (with feveral, both
" Jewifli and Chriftian wi-itevs), that the hiftory of the fall
4< exhibits the defection of the foul ; the ferpent reprefents
" concupifcence ; the man, to whom he durft not apply
" himfelf, is the picture of reafon ; and the woman, whom
" he fo eafily feduced and overcame, the emblem of fenfe,
" and fo on."
How long our firft parents continued in their ftate of How long
innocence, and in the poffeflion of the eai-den of Eden, is' c;r,.ate of
not fo well' agreed-. The account of their fall, in the fe-nocence
rics of hiftory, foll^vs immediately their introdud'tion intolafted-
iheir blifsful abode; whereupon (c) moft of the Jewifh
doctors, and fome of the Chriftian fathers, were of opi-
nion, that they preferved their integrity but a very fhort
(c) Edward's Survey, vol. 1.
while ;
84 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A- M. i. while ; that in the clofe of the fame day wherein they
were made, they tranfgreffed the covenant, and were the
3. very fame day caft out of paradife. But we are to coniider,
'that many circumftances are omitted in the Scriptures con-
cerning the ftate of our firft parents, and the manner of
their tranfgreflion ; that Mofes makes mention of nothing
but what is conducive to his main delign, which is to give
a brief account of the molt remarkable tranfactions that had
happened from the beginning of the world to his time ;
and that there are fundry good reafons which may induce
us to believe, that the irate of man's innocence was of a
longer duration than thofe who are for precipitating mat-
ters are pleafed to think it.
Longer God indeed can do what he pleafes in an inftant ; but
fu 11 1S' U ~* man neccffariry requires a iucceffion of time to tranfact his
gined. affairs in ; and therefore when we read of Adam, in the
fame day that he was created, (and that was not until God
had made every beaft of the field), (d) inquiring into the
nature of every living creature, and impofing on them pro-
per names ; falling into a deep fleep, and, with fome for-
mality, (without doubt), receiving his wife from the hand
of Cod; removing into the garden of paradife, and (as we
may well fuppofe) walking about, and taking fome furvey
of it ; receiving from God both a promife and prohibition,
and thereupon (as we may fuppofe again) (e) ratifying the
firft great covenant with him : when we read of all thefe
things, I fay, we cannot but think, that fome time muft
be required for the doing of them ; an'd therefore to fup-
pofe, after this, (/) that in the clofe of the fame day, the
woman wandered from her hufband, met with the ferpent,
entered into a parley with him, was overcome by his infi-
nuations, did eat of the forbidden fruit, did prevail with
her hufband to do the fame, and thereupon perceiving
themfelves naked, did inftantly fall to work, and make
themfelves aprons : to fuppofe, that in the fame evening
God comes down, lummons the criminals before him,
hears their excufes, decrees their puniihments, drives them
out of paradife, and places two cherubims to guard all a-
venues againft their return : this is crowding too long a fe-
ries of bufinefs into too fhort a compafe of time, and there-
by giving an handle to infidelity, when there is no manner of
occafion for it.
• (d) Burnet's Archseolog'ae philofophicae. (e) Bull's State
of man before the fall. (/) Nicholls's Conference, vol. 1.
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 85
We, who are not ignorant of Satan's devices, and how A. M. 1.
ready he is to wait for a favourable occafion to addrefs hisAnt- Chrif
temptations to every man's humour and complexion, can G 4°°f'
hardly fuppofe, (g) that he would have fet upon the woman <_ — — lj
immediately after the prohibition was given ; and not rather
have waited, until it was in fome meafure forgot, and the
happy opportunity of finding her alone mould chance to
pre/exit itfelf : but Inch an opportunity could not well in-
itantly have happened, becaufe the love and endearments
between this couple, at firft, we may well imagine, was fo
tender and affecting, as not to admit of the leaft abfence or
feparation : nor mult we forget (what the hiftory itfelf tells
us) that they were fo much accuftomed to (/;) the voice of
God "walking in the garden in the cool of the day, .as not
to account it any new thing; and fo well acquainted with
the nature and plantation of the garden, as to run direct-
ly to the darken: thickets and umbrages, in order to hide
themfelves from his fight ; which mult have been the refult
of more than an hour or two's experience. And therefore
(if we may be allowed to follow others in their conjectures)
(/') it was either on the tenth day of the world's age thai
our firft parents fell, and were expelled paradife, in memo-
ry of which calamity, (k) the great day of expiation,
(which was the tenth day of the year), wherein all "were
required to afflict their fouls, was, in after ages, inftituted;
or (as others would rather have it) on the eighth day from
their creation : (/) that as the iirft week in the world end-
ed with the formation of man and woman, the fecond was
probably concluded with their fatal feduction.
When man is faid to have been made according to the How he
likenefs and image of God, it cannot be fuppofed, but thatcanic tolaU
he was created in the full perfection of his nature ; and yet
(?n) it muft be remembered, that * no created being can,
in
(g) Patrick's Commentary. (/;) Gen. iii. 10. (/) U flier's
Annals. (/<) Lev. xvi. 29. (/) Edward's Survey, vol. 1.
(?«) Clarke's Inquiry into tbe original of moral evil.
! * God, though he be omnipotent, cannot make any created ber
lug abfolutcly perfctl ; for whatever is absolutely perfect, muft ne-
celfarily be felf-exillent : but it is included in the very notion of a
creature, as fuch, not to exift of itfelf, but of God. An abso-
lutely perfect creature therefore implies a contradiction ; for it
would be of itfelf, and not of itfelf, at the fame time. Abfo- '
lute perfection therefore is peculiar to God ; and mould he
communicate his own peculiar perfection to another, that other
Vol. I. C c would
86 The Hiltory of the BIBLE, Book I,
in its own nature, be incapable of fin and default. Its
perfections, be they what they will, are finite, and what-
ever has bounds fet to its perfections, is, in this refpect,
imperfect, i. e. it wants thofe perfections which a being of
infinite perfections only can have ; and whatever wants any
perfection, is certainly capable of rrnTcarrying, And as
every finite creature is capable of default, fo every rational
being muft neceflavily have a liberty of choice, i. e. it muft
have a will to chufe, as well as an underftanding to reafon ;
becaufe a faculty of underftanding, without a will to de-
termine it, if left to itfelf, muff always think of the
fame lubjeft, or proceed in a feries and connection of
thoughts, without any end or defign, which will be a
perpetual labour in vain, or a thoughtfulnefs to no pur-
pofe. And as every rational being has a liberty of choice,
fo, to direct: that choice, it muft of neceffity have a pre-
ferred rule of its actions.
God indeed, who is infinite in perfection, is a rule to
himfeif, and acts according to his own efTence, from whence
it is impoflible for him to vary ; but the moft perfect crea-
tures muft act by a rule, which is not effential to them,
but prefcribed them by God, and is not fo intrinfic in their
natures, but that they may decline from it ; for a free
agent may follow, or no( follow, the rule prefcribed hims
or elfe he would not be free.
Now, in order to know how it comes to pafs, that we fo
frequently abufe our natural freedom, and tranfgrefs the
rules which God hath fet us, we muft remember, th^t
(rt) the foul of man is feated in the midft, as it were, be-
tween thofe more excellent beings, which live perpetually a-
foove, and with whom it partakes in the fublimity of its na-
ture and underftanding, and thofe inferior terreftrial beings,
would be God. Imperfection muft therefore be tolerated in crea-
tures, notwitbftanding the divine omnipotence and goodnefs ;
for contradictions are no objects of power. God indeed might
have, refrained from acting, and continued alone felf-ftifficicnt, and
perfect to all eternity ; but infinite goodnefs would by no means
allow of this; and therefore fince it obliged him to produce exter-
nal things, which things could not poflibly be perfect, it pre-
ferred thefe' imperfect things to none at all ; from whence it fol-
lows, that imperfection arofe from the infinity of divine good-
nefs ; King s h[fay on the origin of evil,
(r) Stillingfleet's Orig. facr*
with
Chap. III. from tlie Creation to the Flood. 87
with which it communicates, through the vital union it has, A. M. r.
With the body ; and that; by reafon of its natural freedom, ^r-t- Chrif.
it is fometimes affunulated to the one, and fometimes to the n 4°°1''
, Oen. ch. 3.
other of thefe extremes. We muft obferve further, that, y_ — — _f
(0) in this compound nature of Ours, there are feveral
powers and faculties, feveral inclinations and difpofitions,
feveral paffions and affections, differing in their nature and
tendency, according as they refult from the foul or body ;
that each of thefe has its proper object, in a due applica-
tion of which it is eafy and fatisfied ; that they are none of
them finful in themfclves, but may be inftruments of much
good, when rightly applied, as well as occailon great mif-
chief by a mifapplication ; and therefore a confiderable part
of virtue will conlift in regulating thern, and in keeping our
fenfitive part fubject to the rational; This is the original
conftitution of our nature : and lince our firft parents
were endued with the fame powers and faculties of mind,
and had the fame difpoiitidns and inclinations of body, it
cannot be, but that they muft have been liable to the fame
fort of temp ations; and confequently liable to comply with
the dictates of fenfe and appetite, contrary to the direc-
tion of reafon, or the precepts of Almighty God. And to
this caufe the Scripture feems to afcribe the commiifion of
the firft firi, when it tells us, that the woman faiv the tree,
that it vjas good for food, and pleafani to the eye, and de-
Jirable to make one wife, it e. it had feveral qualities which
were adapted to her natural appetites ; Was beautiful to the
fight, and delightful to the tafte, and improving to the un-
derftanding ; which both anfvvered the dellre of knowledge
implanted in her fpiritual, and the love of fenfual pleafure
refulthig from her animal part ; arid thefe, heightened by
the fuggeftions of tlie temper, abated the horror of God's
prohibition, and induced her to act contrary to his exprefs
Command.
God indeed all along foreknew that file would jfafl in this God's pre-
inglorious manner ; but his foreknowledge did not neceffitate ^ience no
her falling, neither did his wifdom ever conceive, chat a,occar°n °f
fallen creature was worfe than none at all (/>). The di-
vine nature, as it is in itfelf, is incomprehenfible by human
underftanding : and not only his nature, but likewife his
powers and faculties , and the ways and methods ia
which he exercifes them, are fo far beyond our reach, that
We arc utterly incapable of framing juft and adequate no-
(0) Clarke of tlie original of moral evil. (/>) Bifiiop King's
Sermon of pretfeftifeatibto.
C c 2 tions
8 8 The Hiftory of the1 BIBLE, Bobk L
A.M. i. tions of them. We attribute to him the faculties of \vil~
Ant. Chrif. clonl) understand' ag, and foreknowledge ; but at the fame
4004. tjme we cannot but be fenfible, that they are of a na-
Cren. en, 3. . J
i_- — _j ture quite different from ours, and that we have no direct
and proper conceptions of them. When we indeed forefee
or determine any thing, wherein there is no poffible matter
of obftruction, we fuppofe the event certain and infallible ;
and, were the foreknowledge and predetermination of God
of the fame nature with ours, we might be allowed to
make the fame concluiion : but why may not it be of fuch
a perfection in God, as is confiftent both with the freedom,
of man's will, and contingency of events ? As the hea-
vens are higher than the earth, fo are his ways far above
our ways : and therefore, though it be certain that he who
made Eve, and confequently knew all the fprings and
weights, wherewith /he was moved, could not but fore-
fee, how every poffible object, that prefented itlelf, would
determine her choice ; yet this he might do, without htm-
felr giving any biais or determination to it at all (q) : juft
as the man, who lees the fetting of the chimes, can tell,
feveral hours before, what tune they will play, without
any pofitive influence, either upon their fetting, or their
playing. So that Eve, when fhe was tempted, could not
fay, I was tempted by God, for God tempteth none ; neither
had the divine pvefcience any influence over her choice.,
but (;-) by her own luft was Jhc drawn away, and enticed,
and when lujl had conceived, it brought forth fin, and fin,
•when it wasjinifhed, brought forth denth.
The veafon That fome command was proper to be laid upon man
aklenefs of in bis Hate of innocence, is hardly to be denied (s.) De-
Gods gi- rten(jence js included in the very notion of a creature:
jatt° and as it is man s gr.eateft happmeis to depend on God.
whofe infinite wlidom can contrive, and infinite power can
effect whatever he knows to be moft expedient for him;
fo was it Adam's advantage to have a conflant fenfe of that
dependence kept upon his mind, and (for that reafon) a
fure and permanent memorial of it, placed before his eyes,
in fuch a manner, as might make it impoffible for him to
forget it.
And as this dependence on God was Adam's greatcft
happineis, fo it feems necefiary on God's part, and highly
comporting with his character of a creator, that he fhould
(q) Yonng's Serai, vol. r. (r) Jaracsi. 14. be. (-') Re-
1 delation exavniiied.
require
Chap. III. from the Creadon to the Flood. 89
l-equire of his creatures, in fome a<fts of homage and obe-A
diencc, (which homage and obedience muff neceilavily im- *-
ply fome kind of reftraint upon their natural liberty) an Gen. ch. 3.
acknowledgment and declaration of it. And if fome re-\— v— J
ftrafnt of natural liberty was neceffary in Adam's cafe, what
reftraint could be more eafy, than the coercion of his ap-
petite from the life of one tree, amidft an infinite variety
of others, no lefs delicious ; and at the fame time, what
reftraint more worthy the wjfdom and gooJ.nefs of God,
than the prohibition of a fruit, which he knew would be
pernicious to his creature ?
The prohibition of fome enormous fin, or the injunc- The fitneft
,-V 1 r 1 • 1 J of that
tion or lome great rule or moral virtue, we perhaps may^lch he
account a properer teft of man's obedience : but if wp con- gave Adam,
iider the nature of things, as they then ftood, we .may
find reafon perhaps to alter our fentiments (t). The Mo-
laic tables are acknowledged by all to be a tolerable good
fyftem, and to comprize all the general heads of moral
virtue ; and yet, if we run over diem, we fliall find, that
they contain nothing fuitablc to man in the condition *
wherein we are now conlidering him.
Had God, for inftance, forbidden the worfhip of falfe
gods, or the worfhip of graven images ; can we fuppofe,
that Adam and Eve, juft come out of the hand of their
maker, and vifited every day with the light of his glorious
prefence, could have even been guilty of thefe ? Befides
that, the worfhip of falfe gods- and images was a thing
which came into the world leveral hundreds of years af-
terwards, either to flatter living princes, or fupply die place
of dead ones, who the fiUy people fancied were become,
gods. Had he prohibited perjury and vain {wearing ;'
what poffible place could thefe have had in the infant and
innocent ltate of mankind ? Perjury was never heard of,
till the world was better peopled, when commerce and
trade came in ufe, when courts of judicature were fet-
tled, and men began to cheat one another, and then deny
it, and fo forfvvear it : and oaths and imprecations could
never have a being in a ftate of innocence : they borrow
their original manifeftly from the finfulnefs of human
nature.
The like may be faid of all the reft. How could Adam
and Eve have honoured their father and their mother, when.
(/) Nichol's'i Conference/ vol, 1, and Jenkins's Reafjuiabk
nefs, voh 2.
they
90 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. r. they never had any ? What poffible temptation could they
Ant. Chrif. jiave to be gUihy of murther, when they muft have acl-
ed it upon their own flefh ? How could they commit adul-
tery, when they were the only two upon the face of the
earth ? How be guilty of theft, when they were the fole
proprietors of all ? How bear falfe witnefs againft their
neighbour, or covet his goods, when there was never a
neighbour in the world for them to be fo unjuft to ? And
fo (if we proceed to Chriftian precepts) how could they love
enemies, how could they forgive trelpafTes, when they had
no one in the world to offend againft them ? And the du-
ties of mortification and feif-denial, <bc. how could they
poffibly exercife thefe, when they had no luft to conquer,
no paflion to overcome, but were all ferene and calm within ?
Since therefore all the moral precepts, that we ai*e ac-
quainted with, were improper for the trial of man's obe-
dience in his ftate of innocence ; it remains, that his pro-
bation was moft properly to be effected, by his doing or
forbearing fome indifferent action, neither good or evil
in itfelf, but only fo far good or evil, as it was command-
ed or forbidden. And if fuch a command was to be cho-
fen, what can we imagine fo natural and agreeable to the
ftate of our firft parents, (confidering they were to live
all their lives in a garden) as the forbidding them to eat of
the fruit of a certain tree in that garden, a tree hard at
hand, and might every moment be eat of, and would there-
fore every moment give them an opportunity of teftifying
their obedience to God by their forbearing it ? A wife ap-
pointment this, had not the great enemy of mankind come
in, and defeated it.
Who thi Who this great enemy of mankind was, and by wha6
Serpent was method of infinuation he drew our firft parents into their
defection, Mofes, who contents himfelf with relating facts
as they happened outwardly, without any comment, or ex-
pOfition of them, or who* by a metenomy in the Hebrew
tongue, ufes the inftrumental for the efficient caufe, tells
us exprefsly, that it was the1 ferpent ; arid for this reafon,
fome of the ancient Jews ran into a fond conceit, that (it)
this whole pafTage is to be \inderftood of a real ferpent ;
which creature (x) they fuppofe^ before the fall, to have
had the faculty of fpeech and reafon both. But this is
too grofs a conception to have many abettors ; and there -
(k) Le Cierc's Commentary and effays. (*) Jofephus, and
fevcral others.
fore
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 91
fore the common, and indeed the only probable opinion is, A. M. 1.
th it it was the devil ; fome wicked and malicious fpirit nt'
(prooably one of the chief of that order) who envied the Gen. ch. 3.
gjod of mankind, the favours God had bellowed on them,v— y^
and the future happinefs he had ordained for them, and was
thereupon refolved to tempt them to difobedience, thereby
to bring them to the fame forlorn condition with himfelf,
and his other apoflate brethren ; and that, to effect his pur-
pofe, he made ufe of a ferpent 's body, wherein to tranfacT;
his fraud and impoilure.
Why the devil chofe to alTume the form of a ferpent, why the
rather than th.it of any other creature, we may, in fome devil aflu-
meafure, learn from the character which the Scripture gives"16 ' 5
us of it, viz. that it was more fubtle than any beaji of ^/tf fa-pent.
field, that the Lord Cod had made : where the word
fubtle may not fo much denote the craft and infidioufnefs,
as the gentle, familiar, and inlinuating nature of this crea-
ture, (y) That the ferpent, before the fall, was mild and
gentle, ana more familiar with man, than any other ani-
mal ; that * it did not creep on the ground, but went with
its head and breail reared up, and advanced ; that by fre-
quendy approaching our firft parents, and playing and
/porting before them, it had gained their good liking and
efteem, is not only the fentiment both (z) of Jews and
(a) Chriflians, but what feems likewife to have fome foun-:
dation in Scripture : for when God fays, That he will put
enmity between the ferpent and the woman, and between
his feed and her feed, the implication mull be, that there
was fome fort of kindnefs and intimacy between them,
before.
{y) Mede's Difconrfes.
* The beauty of the ferpent, which the devil made choice of,
is thus defcribed by Milton :
So fpake the enemy of mankind, inclos'd
In ferpent, inmate bad ! and toward Eve
Addrefs'd his way : not with indented wave,
Prone on the ground, as fince, but on his rear,
Circular bafe of riling folds, that tower'd,
Fold above fold, a furging maze ! his head
Crefled aloft, and carbuncle his eyes ;
With bumiuYd neck of verdant gold, crett
Amidft his circling fpires, that on the grals
Floated redundant : pleafing was his fhape,
And lovely. Book 9.
(?) JofepWa Antic.. 1, 1. («) Bafil. Horn. De paradifo.
There
gz The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. There is no abfurdity then in fuppoiing, that this crea-
Ant. Cluif. ture was beloved both by Adam and Eve. She efpecially
GeiTdi might be highly delighted, and ufed to play and divert her-
felf with it (l>) She laid it perhaps in her bofom, adorned
her neck with its windings, and made it a bracelet for
her arms. So that its being thus intimate with the wo-
man, made it the properer inftrument for the devil's pur-
pofe, who Hiding hiinfelf into it, might wantonly play be-
fore her, until he infenfibly brought her to the forbidden
tree : and then, twifting about its branches, might take
of the fruit and eat, to fhew her, by experience, that there
' was no deadly quality in it, before he began his addrefs ;
and his fpeech might be the lefs frightful or furprifing to
her, who, in the ftate of her innocence, not knowing what
fear was, might probably think (as he might pofitively af£
firm) * that this new-acquired faculty proceeded from the
virtue of the tree.
But there is another conjecture ftill more probable, if we
will but allow, that the ferpent was not of a common ordi-
nary fpecies, but one very probably fomething like that fly-
ing fiery fort, which, we are told, are bred in Arabia and
Egypt, (c) They are of a mining yellowifh colour like brafs,
and by the motion of their wings, and vibration of their tails,
(b) Mede's Difcourfes.
* Eve, upon hearing the ferpent fpeak, inquires by what means
it was, that it came by that faculty ; and is told, that it was by
eating of a certain tree in the garden.
I was at firft, as other beatls, that graze
The trodden herb, of abj eel thoughts and low
Till on a day, roving the field, I chanced
A goodly tree far diltant to behold,
Laden with fruit of various colours, mixt
Ruddy and gold
To fatisfy the (harp defire I had
Of tailing thefe fair apples, I refolv'd
Not to defer
Sated at length, e'er long, I might perceive
Strange alteration in me, to degree
Of reqfon in my inward powers ; and fpeech
Wanted not long, though to this fliape retain 'd.
Thenceforth to (peculation high or deep
I turn'd my thoughts, and with capacious mind
Conlider'd all things viiible in heaven,
Or earth, or middle. Book 9.
(c) Tennifon of Idolatry; Patrick's Commentary; and Nichols's
Cunfrrence, vol. r.
reverberating
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 93
reverberating the fun-beams, make a glorious appearance, a. m. i.
Now, if the ferpent, whofe body the devil abufed, was of Ant. Chrif.
this kind, (though perhaps of a ipecies far more glorious), „ ^°t
it was a very proper creature for him to make ufe of. For .__ _ - Jj
thefe ferpents we find called in Scripture feraphs., or fera-
phim, which gave the name to thofe bright lofty angels
who were frequently employed by God to deliver his will to
mankind, and, coming upon that errand, were wont to put
on certain fplendid forms, fome the form of cherubim, i. e.
beautiful flying oxen, and others the fhape of feraphim, i. e.
winged and Jbining ferpents. Upon this hypothefis we
may imagine farther, that the devil, obferving that good
angels attended the divine prefence, and fometimes mini-
ftered to Adam and Eve in this bright appearance, ufurped
the organs of one of thefe Ihining ferpents, which, by his
art and fkill in natural caufes, he might improve into fuch
a wonderful brightnefs, as to reprefent to Eve the ufual
Jhecbinah, or angelical appearance, {he was accuftomed to ;
and, under this difguife, me might fee him approach her
without fear, and hear him talk to her without furprife,
and comply with his feduction with lefs reluctancy; as
fuppofing him to be an angel of God's retinue, and now
dii patched from heaven to inftruct her in fome momentous
point, as ihe had often perhaps experienced before during
her ftay in paradife.
A (d) learned Jew has expounded this tranfaction in a How Eve
new and uncommon way. He fuppofes that the ferpent didcame tobe
not fpeak at all, nor did Eve fay any thing to it ; but that, e u
being a very nimble and active creature, it got iipon the tree
of knowledge, took of the fruit, and eat it ; and that Eve,
having feen it feveral times do fo, and not die, concluded
with heri'elf, that the tree was not of fuch a deftrudtive
quality as was pretended ; that as it gave fpeech and reafon
to the ferpent, it would much more improve and advance
her nature ; and was thereupon emboldened to eat.
This opinion is very plaufible, and, in fome degree,
founded on Scripture : for though the woman might per-
ceive by her fenles, that the fruit was pleafant to the eye,
yet it was impoffible fhe could know, either that it was
good for food, or defirable to make one wife, any other way
than by the example and experiment of the ferpent,
which, merely by eating of that fruit, (as ihe thought), was
(d) Ifaac Aberbenel.
Vol. I. Dd changed
94 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. changed from a brute into a rational and vocal creature.
1 'This, I fay, is a pretty plaufible folution ; and yet it cannot
be denied, but that the text feems to exprefs fomething
'more, and that there was a real dialogue between the wo-
man and the ferpent, wherein the ferpent had the advan-
tage. And therefore (to perfift in our former expofition)
it is not improbable, that the tempter, before ever he ac-
cofced Eve, transformed himfelf into the likenefs of an an-
gel of light, and prefacing his fpecch with fome fhort con-
gratulations of her happinefs, might proceed to enfnare her
with fome fuch cunning harangue as this.
phrafeup- " ^n(^ can 'n pofribly be, that lb good a God, who has
on the " lb lately been fo bountiful to you, as to give you fuch
tempter's << an excellent being, and inveft you with power and do-
peec .- <e mjn;on over aij iyie r£^c Qf j,js C1-eatures, fhould now
" envy you any of the innocent pleafures of nature ? Has
" he indeed denied you the ufe of the tree of knowledge ?
" But why did he plant it at all ? Why did he adorn it
" with fuch beautiful fruit ? Why did he place it on an
" eminence in the garden, for you to behold daily, unlefs
v he is minded to mock and tantalize you ? The true de-
" fign, both of the prohibition and penalty which you re-
" late, is to keep you in ignorance, and thereby oblige
" you to live in perpetual dependence on him. He knows
" full well, that the virtue of this tree is to illuminate
" the underftanding, and thereby to enable you to judge
" for yourfeives, without having recourfe to him upon e-
" very occaiion. (e) To judge for himfelf is the very pri-
" vilege that makes him God ; and for that reafon he keeps
" it to himfelf ; but eat but of this tree, and ye fliall be
" like him ; your b;ings fliall be in your own hands, and
" your happinefs vaft and inconceivable, and independent
*' on any other, What effect it has had on me, you can-
" not but fee and hear, fince it has enabled me to reafon
" and difcourie in this wife; and, inftead of death, has
" given a new kind of life to my whole frame. And,
" if it has done this to a brute animal, what may not
*[ creatures of your refined make and excellent perfections
" expect from it ? Why fhould you fhrink back, or be
" afraid to do it then ? You have here an opportunity of
" making yourfelves for ever ; and the trefpafs is nothing.
*f. What harm in eating an apple ? Why this tree of?
(e) Bifhop King's Difcourfe on the fal)> at the end of his Ori-
f gin of evil,
" knowledge
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. §£
!' knowledge more facred than all the reft ? Can {a great A- M- V.
** a punifhment as death be proportionate to fo fmall a*n' n"
" fault? I come to alTure you, that it is not; that God Gen. ch. 3.
" has reverfed his decree, and eat you what you will, ye v— — v~- -^
" iurely lhall not die."
(/) Thus the ferpent fnggefted to Eve, that GodhadAn(* *£'
impofed upon her, and ihe was willing to difcover whether^- its fuc.
he had or no. Curioiity, and a defire or" independency, cefs.
to know more, and to be entire mailer of herfelf, were the
affections which the tempter promifed to gratify ; and an
argument like this has feldom failed ever lince to corrupt
the generality of mankind : infomuch that few, very few,
have been able to refill the force of this temptation, efpe-
cially when it comes (as it did to Eve) cloathed with all the
outward advantage of allurement. For whoever knows
the humour of youth, and how he himfelf was affected at
that time, cannot but be fenfible, that as the fairnels of the
fruit, its feeming fitnefs for food, the defire of being inde-
pendent, and under her own management and government,
were inducements that prevailed with our firft parents to
throw off the conduct of God ; fo this curiofity of trying
the pleafures of fenfe, this itch of being our own mailers,
and chuiing for ourfelves, together with the charming face
of iin, and our ignorance and inexpex*ience of the confe-
quences of it, are generally the firft means of our being
corrupted againft the good maxims and principles we i*e~
ceived from our parents and teachers.
It is in the effential conflitution of man, (as we faid be- That man's
fore), that he fhould be a free agent ; and, if we confider 1'berty of
him now as in a ftate of probation, we lhall foon perceive, -.Jp-ai
that God could not lay any rellraint upon him, nor com-andnot to
mnnicate any affiftance to him, but what was confillent be rcftram-
with the nature he had given him, and the ftate he had
placed him in. God created man a free agent, (g) that he
might make the fyftem of the univerfe perfect, and fupply
that vaft hiatus which muft otherwife have happened between
heaven and earth, had he not interpofed fome other creature
(endued with rationality, mafter of his own elections, and
confequently capable offervinghim voluntarily and freely)
between angels and brutes. In the very act of creating him,
therefore, God intended that he fhould be rational, and
(/) Bifhop King's Sermon on the fall. (g) Eiuiop King's
. EfTay on the origin cf evil.
D d 2 determined,
96 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. r. determined, as it were by a law, that he fhould be free ;
Ant. Chrif. and, having ingrafted this in his make, it would have been
4004. a vi0]ation of his own laws, and infraction on his own
J work, tok.".; interpofed, and hindered the ufe of that
faculty, which, by the law of nature, he had eftablifhed.
"We; do not expect, that the fituation of the earth, or the
courfe of the fun fhould be altered on our account, be-
caufe thefe feem to be things of great importance ; and we
apprehend it unreafonable, that, for our private advantage,
the order and harmony of things fhould be changed, to
the detriment of fo many other beings. But, to alter the
will, to flop the election, is no lefs a violation of the laws
of nature, than to interrupt the courfe of the fun, becaufe
a free agent is a more noble being than the fun. The
laws of its nature are to be efteemed more facred, and
cannot be changed without a great miracle : there would
then be a kind of fhock and violence done to nature, if
God fhould interfere, and hinder the actions of free-will ;
and perhaps it would prove no lefs pernicious to the intel-
lectual fyftem, than the fun's ftanding ftill would be to the
natural.
To apply thefe reflections to the matter now before us.
Had God, to prevent man's fin, taken away the liberty of
his will, he had thereby deitroyed the foundation of all vir-
tue, and the very nature of man himfelf. For virtue would
l.ot have been fuch, had there been no poflibility of acting
contrary, and man's nature would have been divine, had it
been made impeccable. Had God given our firft parents
then fuch poAverful influences of his holy Spirit, as to have
made it impofiible for them to fin, or had he lent a guard
of angels, to watch and attend them fo as to hinder the
devil from propofing any temptation, or them from heark-
ening to any ; had he, I fay, fupernaturally over-ruled the
organs of their bodies, or the inward inclinations of their
minds, upon the leaft tendency to evil ; in this cafe he had
governed them, not as free, but as necefTary agents, and
put it out of his own power to have made any trial of them
at all. All therefore that he could do, and all that in rea-
fon might be expected from him to do, was to give them
fuch a lufficient meafure of power and afflftance, as might
enable them to be a match for the flrongeft temptation ;
and this, there is no queftion to be made, but that he
did do.
We
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. ' 97
(/;) We indeed, in this degenerate ftate of ours, find a A- M- /•
.»■<•!.«• i -l • fir Ant. Chnit.
great deal of difficulty to encounter with temptations, we 4O04
find a great blindnefs in our understandings, and a crook- Gen. ch. 3.
ednefs in our wills. We have pajlions, on fome occafions, <— -v— — ^
ftrong and ungovernable ; and oftentimes experience an in- That God
° 1 1 r • gave "im
chnation to do evil, even before the temptation comes : fufficient
but our firft parents, in their primitive rectitude, flood pof- abilities to
felled of every thing as advantageous the other way. They ftand '•
had an understanding large and capacious, and fully illu-
minated by the divine Spirit. Their will was naturally in-
clined to the fupreme good, and could not, without vio-
lence to its nature, make choice of any other. Their paf-
fions were fedate, and fubordinate to their reafon ; and,
when any difficulties did arife, they had God at all times to
have recourfe to : by which means it came to pafs, that it
was as hard for them to fin, as it is difficult for us to ab-
stain from finning ; as eafy for them to elude temptations
then, as it is natural for us to be led away by temptations
now. And therefore, if, notwithstanding all thefe mighty
advantages towards a ftate of impeccancy, they made it
their option to tranfgrefs, their perverfenefs only is to be
blamed, and not any want of fufficient affiftance from their
bounteous Creator.
Great indeed is the diforder which their tranfgreffion And that,
has brought upon human nature ; but there will be no rea-"aPi°nhe^ s
fon to impeach the goodnefs of God for it, if we take butpro'vided
in this one consideration, That what he thought him with
not fit to prevent by his almighty power, he has, never- an ade"
thelefs, thought fit to repair by the covenant of mercy in n^v.*^
his fon Jefus Chrift. By him he has propounded the fame
reward, everlafting life after death, which we fhould
have had, without death, before ; and has given us a better
establishment for our virtue now, than we could have had,
had we not been Sufferers by this firft tranfgreffion.
For let us iuppoie, (/') that, notwithstanding our firft
parents had finned, yet God had been willing that original
righteoufuels fhould have equally defccnded upon their po-
fterity ; yet we muft allow, that any one of their pofterity
might have been foiled by the wiles of the tempter, and
fallen, as well as they did. Now had they fo fallen, (the
covenant of grace being not yet founded), how could they
ever have recovered themfelves to any degree of accept-
ance with God ? Their cafe muft have been the fame,
(*) Nicholls's Conference, vol. 1, (/) Young's Sermons.
98 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I,
A. M. t. as defperate, as forlorn, as that of fallen angels was before :
Ant. Chrif. whereas, in the prefent ftate of things, our condition 15
4004. much fafer, Sin indeed, by reafon of our prefent infir-
. C— °- j iTiity, may moi-e ealily make its breaches upon us, either
through ignorance or furprife; but it cannot get domi-
nion over us, without our own deliberate option, becaufe
it is an exprefs gofpel-promife againft the power of fin,
that (k) it Jljall not have dominion over us ; againfl the
power of the devil, that (I) greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the 'world; againfl the power of temp-
tations, that {pi) Cod is faithful, who will not fuffer us to
be tempted above what we are able ; againfl difcouragement
from the pretence of our infirmities, that («) we may do all
through Chrif that jlrengthens us ; and, in cafe of failing,
that (0) we have an Advocate with the Father, and a pro~
pitiation for our fins. Thus plentifully did God provide
for man's liability in that ftate of integrity, thus graci
oufly for his relloration, in this ftate of infirmity. In both
cafes his goodnefs has been confpicuous, and has never
failed !
Why God In like manner, (to abfolve the divine nature from any
curfed the imputation of paffion or peeviihnefs, of injuftice or hard
ufage, in curling the ferpent and the earth ; in driving our
lapfed parents out of paradife, and in entailing their guilt
and punifhment upon the lateft pofterity), we fhould do
well to remember, that the ferpent, againfl which the firft
fentence is denounced, is to be conlidered here in a double
capacity ; both as an animal, whofe organs the devil em-
ployed in the feduclion of the woman ; and as the devil
himfelf, lying hid and concealed under the figure of the
ferpent : for the fentence, we may obferve, is plainly di-
rected to an intelligent being and free agent, who had com-
mitted a crime which a brute could not be capable of.
Now if we conlider what a glorious creature the fer-
pent was before the fall, we cannot but fuppofe that God
intended this debafement of it, (p) not fo much to exprefs
his indignation againft it, (for it had no bad intention,
neither was it confcious of what the devil did with its bo-
dy), as to make it a monument of man's apoftacy, a tefti-
mony of his difpleafure againft fin, and an inftructive em-
blem to deter ail future ages from the commiflion of that
(k) Rom. vi. 14. (/) 1 John, iv. 4. (m) 1 Cor. x. 1^. I
(7;) Phil. iv. 13. (0) r John, ii. 1. (p) Patrick's Com-
mentary } and Mede's Difcourfes.
which
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. gg
which brought fuch vengeance along with it. In the Levi- A. M. r.
tical law we find, that it a man committed any abomina- Ant- Cnn1*-
ti.m with a beaft, (?) the beaft was to be ilain as well Gen°°ch. ,:
as the man ; and, by parity of reafon, the ferpent is V»prpi _ ^
punifhed, if not to humble the pride, and allay the triumph
of the devil, by feeing the initrument of his fuccels fo
lhamcfully degraded, at leaft to remind the deliriqitents
themfelves of the foulnefs of their crime, and the neceffity-'
of their repentance, whenever they chanced to behold fo
noble a creature as the ferpent was reduced to fo vile and-
abject a condition, merely for being the means of their
tranfgreffion. \
But God might have a farther defign in this degrada-
tion of the ferpent : he forefaw, that, in future ages, Sa-
tan would take pride in abufihg this very creature to the
like pernicious purpofes, and, under the femblance of fer-
pents of all kinds, would cndeavoiu* to eftablifh the vileft
idolatry, even the idolatry of his own hellifh worfhip.
That therefore the beauty of the creature might be no pro-
vocation to fuch idolatry, it was a kind and beneficent act
in God to deface the excellence of the ferpent's fhape,
and, at the fame time, infpire mankind with the ftrongeft
horror and averfion to it. Nor can it be denied, but that,
(r) if we fuppofe the devil pofTeiTed the ferpent, and was,
as it were, incarnate in it, the power of God could unite
them as clofely as our fouls and bodies are united, and
thereby caufe the punifhment inflicted on the literal ferpent
to affect Satan as fenilbly as the injuries done our bodies do
reach our fouls ; at leaft, while that very ferpent was in
being.
To conllder Satan then under the form of a ferpent, The latter
we ihall fee the propriety of the other part of the fentencePart of l,le
denounced againft him, and what comfort and confolation ^^ a"
our criminal parents might reafonably collect from thence, fa-pent ex-
That this part of the fentence, / will put enmity between plained.
thee and the -woman, and between thy feed and her feed ; it
Jhall bruife thy head, and thou Jhalt bruife his heel, is not
to be underftood in a literal fenfe, (becaufe fuch fenfe is
abfurd and ridiculous), every reader of competent un-
derftanding muft own : and therefore its meaning muff be
luch as will beft agree with the circumftances of the
tranfaction. Now the tranfaction was thus. •Adam,
tempted by his wife, and the by the ferpent, had fallen
(q) Lev. xx. 15. (r) Bifliop King's Sermon on the fall.
from
loo The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. from their obedience, and were now in the prefence of
Ant. Chnf. q0(j eXpe^ing judgment, (s) They knew full well, at
Gen. ch. 3-tnat juncture, that their fall was the victory of the fer-
ipent, whom, by experience, they found to be an enemy
to God and man : to man, whom he had ruined by fe-
ducing him to fin ; and to God, the noble work of whofe
creation he had defaced. It could not therefore but be
fome comfort to them, to hear the ferpent firft condemned,
and to fee that, however he had prevailed againft them, he
had gained no victory over their maker, who was able to
affert his own honour, and to punifh this great author of
iniquity. Nor was it lefs a confolation to them to hear
from the mouth of God likewife, that the ferpent's vic-
tory was not a complete victory over even themfelves ; that
they and their pofterity fhould be able to conteft his
empire ; and though they were to fuffer much in the ftrug-
gle, yet finally they fhould prevail, bruife the ferpent's
head, and deliver themfelves from his power and dominion
over them.
This certainly is the loweft fenfe wherein our firft
parents could have underflood this part of the fentence de-
nounced againft the ferpent ; and yet this very fenfe was
enough to revive in them comfortable hopes of a fpeedy
reftoration. For when Adam heard that the feed of the
woman was to deftroy the evil fpirit, he undoubtedly un-
derflood Eve to be that woman, and fome ifTue of his by
her to be that feed ; and accordingly we may obferve,
that when Eve was delivered of Cain, the form of her ex-
ultation is, (t) I have gotten a man from the Lord, i. e.
I have gotten a man through the fignal favour and mercy
of God. (i<) Now this extraordinary exultation cannot be
fuppofed to arife from the bare privilege of bearing ifTue,
for that privilege (as fhe could not but know before this
time) fhe had in common with the meaneft brutes ; and
therefore her tranfport muft arife from the profpect of
fome extraordinary advantage from this iffue, and that could
be no other than the deftruction of her enemy.
Cain indeed proved a wicked man ; but when fhe had
conceived better expectations from Abel, and Cain had flain
him, ,fhe, never thelefs, recovered her hopes upon the birth
of Seth ; becaufe (x) God, faith fhe, hath appointed me ano-
ther feed, or one who will deftroy the power of Satan,
(s) Bifhop Sherlock's Ufe and intent of prophecy. (t) Gen.
iv. i. (») Revelation examined, vol. i. (x) Gen. iv. 25.
inftead
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 101
inftead of Abel, whom Cain flew. Thus we fee, that the a. m. r.
obfcurity in which it pleafed God to foretel the deftruc-Ant. Chrif.
tion of the evil fpirit, gave rife to a fucceflion of happy *° °£
hopes in the breaft of Adam and Eve ; who (if they hadi_, _ _^
known that this Iiappinefs was to be poftponed for four
thoufand years) would, in all probability, have inevitably
fallen into an extremity of defpair.
But how neceffary foever God might think it, to give Wty God
our firft: parents fome general hopes and expectations of^™!^.^
a reftoration ; yet, being now fallen into a ftate of finoutcfpara-
and corruption, which muft of courfe infect their lateftdifc,
pofterity, he found it expedient to deprive them of that
privilege of immortality, wherewith he had inverted them,
and (as an act of juftice and mercy both) to turn them
out of paradife, and debar them from the tree of life :
of juftice, in that they had forfeited their right to immor-
tality, by tranfgreffing a command, which nothing but a
vain, criminal curiofity could make them difobey ; and of
mercy, in that, when fin had entailed all kinds of cala-
mity upon human nature, in fuch circumftances, to have
perpetuated life, would have been to perpetuate mifery.
This, I think, can hardly be accounted the effect of and cprfld
paflion or peevifhnefs : and in like manner, God's curfmgthcSlound-
the ground, or (what is all one) his depriving it of its ori-
ginal fruitfulnefs, by a different turn given to the air,
elements, and feafons, was not the effect of anger, or
any hafty paffion, (which God is not capable of), but of
calm and equitable juftice; fince it was man (who had
done enough to incur the divine pleafure) that was to
fuffer by the curfe, and not the ground itfelf : for the
ground felt no harm by bringing forth thorns and thi-
Jllcs, but Adam, who for fome time had experienced
the fpontaneous fertility of paradife, was a fufticient fuf>
ferer by the change, when he found himfelf reduced to
hard labour, and forced to eat his bread by the fweat of
his brows.
It muft be acknowledged therefore, (y) that there was The nature
good reafon, why the penalty of the iirft tranfgreflion of the <li-
ihould be greater than any fubfequent one; becaufe it washir]cn ~
'.leligned to deter pofterity, and to let them fee, by this ex-
ample, that whatever commination God denounces againft
guilt, will moft infallibly be executed. We miftakc, how-
ever, the nature of God's laws, and do in effect renounce
(y) Revelation examined,
Vol. I. E e fris
ioz The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. r. his authority, when we fuppofe, that good and evil are in
Ant. C;mf. tne nature of things only, and not in the commandments
Gen°ch and prohibitions of God. (z) Whatever God is pleafed to
* -- -■_' command or forbid, how indifferent foever it be in itfelf, h
for that very reafon, fo far as it is commanded or forbidden
by him, as truly good or evil, as if it were abfolutely and
morally fo, being enacted by the fame divine authority,
which makes all moral precepts obligatory. God, in fhort,
is our law-giver, and whatever he commands, whether it
be a moral precep: or pofitive injunction, fo far as he e->
nactsit, is of the lame neceffary and indefpenfable obligation.
Upon this it follows, that all fin is a tranfgreffion of the
law, and a contempt of God's authority : but then the
aggravations of a fin do arife from the meafure of its guilt,
and the parties advantages to have avoided it ; under which
eonfideratioh, nothing can be more heinous than the fin
The hei- °* OUT ^r^ ParerLts- It was not only a bare difobedience
noufhefs of to God's command, by a perfect infidelity to his promifes
p-an%re£- and threats ; it was a fort of idolatry in believing the de-
• . *\ ' vil, and putting a greater truft in him, than in God. It
was an horrible pride in them to defire to be like God, and
fuch a diabolical pride, as made the evil angels fall from
heaven. Covetoufnefs, and a greedy theft it was, to de-
fire, and purloin, what was none of his own; and one of
the moft cruel and unparallelled murthers, that ever was
committed, to kill and deftroy fo many thoufands of then*
offspring, (a) Add to this, that it was a difobedience a-
gainft God, an infinite being, and of infinite dignity ; a
God, who had given them exiftence, and that fo very late-
ly, that the impreffes of it could not be worn out of their
memory • that hadbeftowed fo much happinefs upon them,
more than on all the creation btfides ; that had made them
lords over all, and reftrained nothing from them, but only
the fruit of this one tree. Add again, that they commit-
ted this fin, againft the cleareft conviction of confeience,
with minds fully illuminated by the divine Spirit, with all
poflible affiftance of grace to keep them from it, and no
untoward bent of nature, or unruly paffion to provoke
them to it : and, putting all this together, it will appear,
that this was a lin of the deepeft dye, and that no man,
now-a-days, can poffibly commit a crime of fuch a com-
plicated nature, and attended with fuch horrid aggrava-
tions.
(2) Jenkins's Reafosableaels, vol. 2. (<*) Nicholls's
ference^ vol. 1,
It
Chap.
III. from the Crsation to the Flood. 103
It is the opinion of fome, {!>) that the fruit of the for- a. m. i.
bidden tree might be impregnated with fo:n.z fermenting Am. Chri£
juice, which put the blood and fpirits into a great difor- G 4°°f"
der, and thereby divefted the foul of that power and domi- 1 — ^ Jj
nion it had before over the body ; which, by its operation, And t'heju-
clouded the intellect:, and depraved the will, and reducedft,0<; °- .i::'-
every faculty of the mind to a miferable depravity, which, ^.""^ !**f
along with human nature, has been pi*opagated down to fterity.
pofterity : (c) as fome poifons (we know) will ftrangely af-
fect the nerves and fpirits, without caufing immediate
death ; and (J) as the Indians (we are told) are acquaint-
ed with a juice which will immediately turn the perfon
' who drinks it into an idiot, and yet leave him, at the fame
time, the enjoyment of his health, and all the powers and
faculties of his body. Bat whatever the effect: of the fruit
might be, and whether the corruption of our nature and
death, (with all the train of evils, which have defcended
to us), lay in the tree, or in the will of God, there is no
queftion to be made, but that our wife Creator might very
juftly decree, that human nature in general mould be af-
fected with it, and our happinefs or unhappinefs depend up-
on the obedience or difobedience of our iirft parents. We
daily fee, that children very often inherit the difeafes of
their parents, and that a vicious and extravagant father
leaves commonly his fon heir to nothing elfe but the name
and lhadow of a great family, with an infirm and fickly
conftitution. And if men generally now partake of the
bad habits and difpofitions of their immediate parents, why
might not the corruption of human nature, in the firft,
have equally defcended upon all the reft of mankind ?
(e) The rebellion of a parent, in all civil governments,
reduces his children to poverty and difgrace, who had a
title before to riches and honours : and for the fame
reafon, why might not Adam forfeit for himfelf, and all
his defcendents, the gift of immortality, and the promife of
eternal life ? God might certainly beftow his own favours
upon his own terms : and therefore, iince the condition
was obedience, he might juftly inflict: death, i. e. with-
hold immortality from us ; and he might juftly deny us
heaven (for the promife of heaven was an act: of his free
bounty) upon the tranfgrcffion and difobedience of our
(b) Jenkins's Reafonab!encf>, vol. 2. (j) Jenkins's Jlca-
fonablenefs, vol. 2. (d) Revelation examined, vol. 1.
(e) Jenkins's Reafonablenefs, vol. 2.
E c a firft
104 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book!.
A.M. i. firft parents. We were in their loins, and from thence
Ant. Chnf. our infection came : they were our reprefentatives, and in
them we fell : but then, amidft all this fcene of calamity,
i we have one comfortable, one faving profpect to revive us,
viz. that (f) Adam was the figure of him that -was ta
come ; and therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment
came upon all mankind to condemnation, even fo by the right e-
oufnefs of one, the free gift came upon all men unto jufi if cation
of life -. ■
This is the account we have of the fall : and though we
pretend not to deny, that in fome places there are figura-
tive expreffions in it, as beft comporting with the nature
of ancient prophecy, and the oriental manner of writing ;
yet this can be no argument, why we fhould immediately
run to an allegorical interpretation of the whole.
Mofes no That not only the poets, but fome of the greateft philo-
allegorical fophe'rs likewife, had a ftrange affectation for fuch figura-
tive documents, in order to conceal their true notions
from the vulgar, and to keep their learning within the
bounds of tbeir own fchools, we pretend not to deny : and
yet, fince it is apparent, that Mofes could have no fuch
ciefign ; (g) fince he had no reafon to fear any other philo-
fophers letting up againft him, or running away with his
notions ; fince he affects no other character, but that of a
plain hifforian, and pretends to relate matters juft as they
happened, without any difguife or embellifhment of art ;
fince he orders his books (which he endeavours to fuit to
die vulgar capacity) to be read in the ears of all the peo-
ple, and commands parents to teach them to their children ;
it cannot be fuppofed, but that the hiftory of the fall, as
well as the reft of the book of Genefis, is to be taken in a
literal fenfe. All the reft of the book is allowed to be li-
teral, and why fhould this part of it only be a piece of E-
gyptian hieroglyphic ? Fable and allegory, we know, are
directly oppoiite to hiftory : the one pretends to deliver
truth undifguifed ; the other to deliver truth indeed, but
under the veil and cover of fiction : fo that, if this book of
Mofes be allowed to be hiftorical, we may as well fay, that
what Thucydides relates of the plague of Athens, or Livy
of the battle of Cannae, is to be underftood allegorically,
as that what Mofes tells us of the prohibition of the fruit of
the tree of knowledge, or of Adam and Eve's expulfion
(f) Rom, v. 14. 1 8. (g) Nicholls's Conference,
vol. 1.
from
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. ip£
from the garden of paradife for breaking it, is to be inter- a. M. r.
preted in a myftical fenk. Ant. Chrif.
Nay, we will put the cafe, that it were confiftent with _ 4°°*'
the character of Mofes to have amufed the people with fables ^ ^ _j
and allegories ; (h) yet we can hardly believe, but that the
people retained fome tradition among them concerning the
formation of our firft parents, and the manner of their de-
fection. This they might eaiily have had from their illu-
ftrious anceftor Abraham, who might have deduced it from
Noah, and thence, in a few fucceffions, from Adam him-
felf : and if there was any iuch tradition preferved among
them, Mofes mult neceftarily have loft all his credit and
authority, had he pretended to foift in a tale of his own
invention, inftead of a true narration. For the fhort que-
ftion is, ■ (?) Did the children of Ifrael know the hi-
ftorical truth of the fall, or did they not ? If they did
know it, why fhould Moles difguife it under an allegory,
rather than any of the reft of the book of Genefis ? If thev
did not know it, how came it to be forgotten in fo few ge-
nerations of men, fuppofing it had ever been known to A-
dam's pofterity ? If Adam's pofterity never rightly knew
it, but had the relation thereof always conveyed down in
metaphor and allegory, then rauft Adam, in the firft place,
impofe upon his fons, and they upon fucceeding genera-
tions ; but for what reafon we cannot conceive, unlefs that
the moft remarkable event that ever befel mankind (ex-
cept the redemption of the world by Chrift) fo came to
pafs, that it was impoffible to tell it to pofterity any other
way than in allegory.
It can fcarce be imagined, but that fome of the ancient Thehiftorv
writers of the Jewifh church, as well as the infpired wri- ©f the fail
ters of the New Teftament, had as true a knowledge of thefe Pr0Ypd to
diftant traditions, as any modern efpoufer of allegories can from the
pretend to; and therefore, (,(') when we read in the book Scripture,
of Wifdom, that (/) God created man to be immortal, and
made him to be the image of his own eternity • but that,
through the envy of the devil, death came into the -world:
when the fon of Sirach tells us, that {m) God, at the firft,
filled man with the knowledge of undcrjlanding, and fljc-^i ,
him good and evil, but («) that error and darknefs had t/.r.;
(b) Mofes Vindicatus. (/) Jenkins's Reafonablcnefs,
Vol. 2- (k) Vtd. Eifliop Sherlock's Diilert. 2 ."annexed to
his Ufe and intent of prophecy. (/) Wild. ii. 23. 24.
(«) Eccluf. xvii. ?• ' (») Ibid. xi. 16.
begin
io6 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. r. beginning together with finners ; that (o) death is the fen-
hat. Cmif.tence 0jr tfje lard over all fiefh ; (p) that the covenant, from
Gen?ch. 3.^ beginning, was, Thoujhalt die the death; and that (q)
^^m^mmmjof woman came the beginning of fin, and through her we
all die : when we read, and compare all thefe paiTages to-
gether, I fay, can there be any reafonable foundation to
doubt in what fenfe the ancient Jewifh church underftood
the hiftory of the fall ?
Nay more : When not only we find the wicked, and
the enemies of God reprefented under the image (r) of a
ferpent, of a dragon, of a leviathan, the crooked ferpent,
&c. ; and the prophet telling us exprefsiy, that (s) dufljhall
be theferpenfs meat ; but our bieiTed Saviour likewife de-
claring, that (r) the devil was a murtherer from the be-
ginning, a lyar, and a father of lies ; St Paul afTerting,
that (u) the woman being deceived, was firft in the tranf-
greffion, and that (x) the ferpent beguiled her through his
fubtility ; and ot John, in his Revelation, (y) calling that
wicked and malicious fpirit, the devil, or the dragon, Sa-
tan, or the' old ferpent, indifferently; we cannot but per-
ceive, that thefe pafTages are not only plain references to
the firft deception of mankind under the form of that
creature, but that they virtually comprife the fum and fub-
ftance of the Mofaic account. (2) So that, if we have any
regard either to the tradition of the Jewifh church, or the
testimony of Chrift and his apoftles, we cannot but believe,
that the hiftory of man's fall, and the confequences there-
upon, were really fuch as Mofes has reprefented them,
confirmed And to confirm us in this belief, we may obferve far-
ky foreign ther, that the tradition of almoft every nation is conform-
teaimonies able to his relation of things: (a) That not only the
ftate of man's innocence, in all probability, gave rife to
the poet's fiction of the golden age ; but that the ftory of
Adam and Eve, of the tree, and of the ferpent, was ex-
tant among the Indians long ago, and (as travellers tell us)
is ftill preferved among the Brachmans, and the inhabitants
of Peru : (b) That in the old Greek myfteries, the people
ufed to carry about a ferpent, and were inftructed to cry
'Evx, whereby the devil feemed to exult, as it were, over
(0) Ecclaf. xli. 3. (/>) Ibid. xiv. 17. (q) Ibid. xxv. 24.
(r) 1 fa. xiv. 29. xxvii. 1. Micahvii. 17. (s) Ifa. lxv. 25.
(/) John viii. 44. (//) 1 Tim ii. 14. (.*) 2 Cor. xi. 3.
(>■) Rev. xii. 9. xx. 2. • (.?) Mofes Vindicarus. (i?) Gro-
bus De veritatc. (b) Nicholls's Conference, vol. 1.
the
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 107
the unhappy fall of our firft mother ; and that (c) in his A- M- »•
worfhip in idolatrous nations, even now, * there are fre-
quent inftancesof his difplaying this his conqueft under the Gen. ch. 3,
figure of a ferpent : ftrong evidences of the truth of the ^-—v— -J
Mofaic account i to fay nothing of the rationale which it
gives us of our innate pudor circa res v-enereas, of the pains
of child-birth, of the prefent fterility of the earth, of the
flownefs of children's education, of their imbecility above
all other other creatures, of the woman's fubjeclion to her
hufband, of our natural antipathy to viperous animals,
and (what has puzzled the wifeft of the Heathen fages to
difcover) of the depravation of our wills, and our ftrong
propenfity to what is evil.
This origin of evil is a queftion which none of them And is th$
could refolve. They law the effect, but were ignorant of moft &"&
the caufe ; and therefore their conjectures were abfurd. ta"01T °«
(d) Some of them laid the whole blame on matter, as if"
its union with the mind gave it a pernicious tincture.
Others imagined a pre-exiftent ftate, and that the bad in-
clinations which exerted themfelves in this world were firft
of all contracted in another, (c) Several eftablifhed two
principles, the one the author of all the good, and the
other the author of all the evil (whether natural or mo-
ral) that is found in human nature : and, in prejudice to
this abfurdity, many betook themfelves to Atheifm, and
denied any firft principle at all ; accounting it better to
have no God in the world, than fuch an unaccountable
mixture of good and evil. But now, had but thefc wife
men had the advantage of reading the Mofaic account,
they would never have taken up with fuch wild hypothefes,
but immediately concluded with our Saviour's argument,
that (f) a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit ; be-
caufe the explication of the rife of fin, by an original
if) Vid. Heideggeri Hifloria patriarcharum, vol. r.
* Philip Melancfhon tells us a ftory to this porpofe, of fome
pricfts (fomewhere in Alia) who carry about a ferment in a
brazen vefTel, and, as they attend it with a great deal of mufic
and charms in verfc, the ferpent lifts up itfelf, opens its mouth,
and thrults out the head of a beautiful virgin ; the devil, in this
manner, glorying in this mifcarriage of five among thefe pswr
idolaters. And an account much of the like nature is given us
in books of travels into the Welt-Indies ; JSicholWi Ccujlr.'tice,
vol r.
(d) Nicholas Conference, vol. 1. (e) Bilhop King on the
- ) Matth. vfi, 18.
lapfe,
108 The HkLory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. r. lapfe, is not only freed from thefe abfurdities wherewith
other explications abound, but, according to the fenfe
which the author of the Book of Wifdom has of it, fets the
igoodnefs of God in the creation of the world in its
proper light ; viz, (g) that God made not death, neither
hath he pleasure in the deflruclion of the living. He
created all things, that they might have their being, and
the generations of the world were healthful. There was
no poifon of deflruBion in them, nor the kingdom of death
upon the earth, until that ungodly men called it to them ;
(h) and fo error and darknefs had their beginning together
with fumers.
DISSERTATION in.
Of original fin.
^Riginal fin indeed is a phrafe which does not oc-
cur in the whole compafs of the Bible ; but the na-
ture of the thing itfelf, and in what manner it came to
be committed, are fufficiently related : fo that thofe who
admit of the authority of the Scriptures, make no queftion
of the fact. The great matter in difpute is, what the
effect of this tranfgreffion was ; what guilt it contained ;
what punifhment it merited ; and in what degree its guilt ,
and punifhment both may be faid to affect us.
Different Some have not ftuck to affirm, (/) that in the begin-
opmions n;ng 0f the world, there was no fuch thing as any ex-
coacenung ^Yefs covenant between God and man ; that the prohibi-
tion of the tree of knowledge was given to our firft parents
onlv, and they alone ccnfequently were culpable by its
tranfgreffion ; that Adam, in fhort, was mortal, like one
of us ; he no reprefcntative for his pofterity ; his fin
purely perfonal ; and that the imputation of guilt, down
to this time, for an offence fo many thoufand years ago
committed, is a fad reflection upon the goodnefs and ju-
ftice of God.
In oppolition to this, others think proper to affirm, that
at the firft creation of things, there was a covenant made
with all mankind in Adam, their common head, and
proxy, who ftipulated for them all ; that by a tranfgref-
fion of this covenant, our firft parents fell from their ori-
(g) Willi, i. j*. ire. (h) Ecciuf. xi. 16. (/) Burnet
en the articles ; and Taylor's polemical difcourfes.
ginal
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. ,ico.
•ginal righteoufnfefs, and thence became dead in fin, andA-Ml-
actually defiled in all their faculties of foul and body ; and ^^j*1
that this corruption is not only the parent of all actual Gen. ch. j>.
tranfgreflions, but (even in its own nature) brings guilt up-
on every one that is born into the world, whereby he is
bound over to the wrath of God, and the curfe of the law,
and fo made fubject to death, with all the miferies that at-
tend it, fpiritual, temporal, and eternal.
There is another opinion which concerns itfelf not
with the imputation of the guilt, but only with the punifh-
ment of this tranfgreflion, and thereupon fuppofes, that
though Adam, as to the compoiition of his body, was na-
turally mortal, yet, by the fupernatural gift of God, (where-
of the tree of life was a fymbol or lacrament), he was to
be preferved immortal : from whence it is inferred, (k)
that the denunciation of the fentence, In the day thou eatejl
t hereof, thou Jhalt fit rely die, is to be understood litcrallv
indeed, but then extended no farther than natural death ;
which, confidering the fears, and terrors, and fundiy
kinds of miiery which it occafions, may be reputed pu-
nifhment fevere enough, though fairly confiftent with our
notions of God's goodnefs and juftice, becaufe it is-but a
temporal punifhment, and abundantly recompenced by that
f eternal redemption which all mankind fhall have ;n Chriit
' Jefus.
Others again do fo far approve of this, as to think it
in part the punifhment of -original fin ; but then they fup-
pofe, that befides this natural mortality, there is a certain
weaknefs and corruption fpread through the whole race of
mankind, which discovers itfelf in their inclination to evil,
and infufikiency to what is good. This, fay they, f the
(k) Locke's Reafonablenefs of Cbrifiianity ; and TratfafusDe
bnputatione divina peccati ddami, per Dan. Whitby.
\ St. Auftin, in his fourth book againft Julian, brings in Cice-
ro [De repub. 1. 3.] complaining, " Non a matre, fed a noverca
" natura editmn efle hominem in vitam ; corpore nudn, fragili, et
" infirmo; animo anxio ad moleftias, humili ad timores, moiii
" ad labores; in quo tamen vtlut obrutus incft ignis quidam divi-
" nns mentis." Whereupon the holy father makes this remark,
" Rem vidit author ifte, caufam nefcivit: latebat enim cum, our
" cflet grave jugum faper fi'ios Adam; quia, lacris litcris non c-
" ruditus, iguorabat originale peccatum."
Vol. I, F f very
1 1 o The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I,
A. M. i. very Heathens complain of; this f the Scriptures eveiy
Ant. Chnf.wiiere teftify ; and therefore they conclude, thatfince man
Gen°°ch was not orfg*na% made in this condition, (for God created
v_ — -y— ..jhim after his own image), he mull have contracted all this
from his fall ; and that therefore the threatening of death
had an higher fignhkation than the diflblution of the foul
and body, viz. the lofs of the divine favour, of all fu-
pernatural gifts and graces, and a total defection of the
mind from God, which immediately enfued upon the tranf-
greffion.
A piicprr Thefe are fome of the principal opinions, (for the lit-
fute of the tie Angularities are innumerable), and, in the midft of fo
ciuefiion: many intricacies, to find out a proper path for us to purfue,
we may refolve the whole controverfy into this one que-
ftion : " Whether human nature be fo far corrupted,
" and the guilt of our firll parents tranfgreffion fo far
" imputed to their pofterity, that every perfon, from the
" mother's womb, muft neceffarily go ailray, and muft
" certainly fall into everlafting perdition, without the
?' means appointed in the new covenant for his preferva-
f* tion ?" And in fearching into this, the fentiments of the
fathers, much more the altercations of the fchoolmen, will
help us veiy little, f The former are fo divided in their
opinions,
-f- The Scriptures ftate the corruption of human nature in fuch
terms as thefe, viz. that by one man fin entered into the world,
by whofe difobedience many were made fnners, Rom. x. 19.
that by nature therefore we are the children of wrath, Eph. ii. 3.
and unable to receive the things of the Spirit, or to know them, be-
\ caufe they are fpiritu ally difcerned, 1 Cor. ii. 14. ; for what is
born of fief}), isfejl?, John iii. 6. ; and who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean ? Job xiv. 4. The royal Pfalmift therefore
makes, in his own perfon, this confeffion of our natural depravity \
Behold I was fliapen in wickednefs, and in fin did my mother con-
ceive me, Pfal. Ii. 5. ; and St. Paul this public declaration of our
inability to do good ; I know that in me (i. e in my fiejh) dwell-
eth no good thing % for to will is prefent with me, but to perform
that which is good, I find not ; for though J delight in the law of
God after the inward man, yet 1 fee another law in my members,
warring again/1 the law in my 7nind, and bringing me into capti-
vity to the law of fin which is in my members. 0 wretched man
that I am! who fhall deliver me from the body of this deaths
Rom. vii. 18. ire.
f Voffius, in his hiflory of Pelagianifm, allures us, that the
Svhole Catholic church as always of opinion, that the guilt of
Chap III. from the Creation to the Flood. 1 1 1
opinions, and the latter fo abftrufe in their arguments upon A- M- *•
this fubject., that an honeft inquirer will find himfelf be- Ant" chr,f'
wildercd, rather than inftrufted ; and therefore our fafeftGcn. ch. 3.
recourse will be to the declarations of God's will, explained «— - v~- — '
in a manner comporting with his attributes.
That God, who is the fountain of our being, is infi-And the
nitely pure and holy, and can therefore be neither the au-moit p*o-
thoi' or promoter of any fin in us, is obvious to our firii ,. "~ -
.r n, J,, r' .r , . -plication of
conceptions or him ; and therefore, it the corruption oric,
our nature be fuppofed to be fuch as neceffarily and un-
avoidably determines us to wickednefs, without the leaft
tendency to good, to give it a counterpoife, thofe who
maintain the negative of the queftion, are in the right
fo far as they ftand in defence of God's immaculate pu-
rity, and are known to be afferters of the freedom of hu-
man choice, without which the common diftincYions of
virtue and vice, and the certain profpecls of rewards and
punifhments, are entirely loft. .But when they carry the
point fo far as to deny any alteration in human nature
now, from what it was at its firft creation ; as to deny,
that Adam, in his ftate of uprightnefs, had any gifts and
graces fupernatural, any clearnefs in his understanding,
any Strength in his will, any regularity in his affections,
more than every man of maturity and competent facul-
ties has at this day ; when they adventure to affirm, that
there is no neceffity of grace in our prefent condition, to
affift our hereditary weaknefs, to enlighten our minds, and
incline our wills, and conduct our affections to the pur-
pofes of holinefs, but that every man may do what is good
■
Adam's fin was imputed to his pofterity to their condemnation ;
fo that children dying therein were configned to everlafting pu-
nifhment, at lead to an everlafting fep.i ration from Go J : and, to
confirm this affertion, he quotes a multitude of paflagi s out of al-
moft all the doctors of the Greek church. Taylor and Whitby,
and fome other writers upon this argument, produce the teftimony
of the fame fathers to evince the very contrary pofition ; fo that
there is no depending upon any thing where authors are fo in-
confiftent with tbemfelvcs, and fo repugnant to o^e another. The
truth is, before Pclagius appeared in the world, mod of the an-
cient writers of the church were very inaccurate, both in what
they thought and wrote concerning original fin and free-will;
and it teems as If the providence of God permitted that Heretic
to arife, that thereby he might engage the ma';nuiuers of ortho-
doxy to ftudy thofc points more maturely ; I'Viutak.'r Ds fsccato
orig. /. 2.
F f 2 and
ii2 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I,
A. M. t. and acceptable to God by the power of his own natural
1 ' abilities ; they then run counter to the common experi-
, ence of human iniirmity ; they overlook the declarations
'of God's word concerning his gracious aliiftance; and
teem to defpife the kind overture of that blefTed agent,
whereby we are renewed and fanEttfied in the fpirit of our
minds.
In like manner, when the maintainers of abfolute de-
privation contend, that man, in his prefent condition, is
far departed from original righteoufhefs, and>. of his own
accord, very much inclined to evil ; that the order of his
faculties is deftroyed, and thofe graces which conftituted
the image of God, departed from him ; that in this ftate
he is now unable to raife himfelf from the level of com-
mon impotence, but requires the intervention of fome fu-
perior principle to aid and affift him in his progrefs towards
heaven ; they fay no more than what experience teaches
us, and what the facred records, which acquaint us with
the difpenfation of grace, are known to authorife. But
when they carry their pofitions to a greater extent than
they willjuitly bear ; when they affirm, that ever fince the
furl defection, the mind of man is not only much im-
paired, but grievoufly vitiated in all its faculties, having a
ilroiig averfion to every thing diat is good, and an invin-
cible propenlity to what is evil ; not one thought, word, or
wifh, that tends towards God, but the feeds and principles
of every vice that bears the image and lineaments of the de-
vil, inherent in it : when they advance fuch doclrines as
thefe, I fay, they debafe human nature too low, and feem
to impute fuch iniquity to its maker as can hardly be wiped
off, if every human foul be naturally inclined to all kind of
wickcdnefs when it comes from the hand of his creating
power.
There is certainly therefore another way of account-
ing for thefe difficulties, without any prejudice to the ch-
yme attributes, and that is this : Not by afcribing any
politive malignity to human nature, but only the lofs of
the image oi God ; becaufe a mere privation of reclitude,
in an aftive fubject, will iufficiently anfwer all the purpofcs
for which a poiitive corruption is pleaded. (/) The foul
of man, we know, is a bufy creature : by the force of its
own nature it muft be in action ; but then, without grace,
and the image of God afilfting and adorning it, it cannot
(/) Hopkins on the two covenants.
aft
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 1 1 £
act regularly and well. So that the difference between a. M. ».
Adam and us, is not that we have violent inclinations to Ant. Chri£
all manner of wickednefs implanted in our nature, any *0°£
more than he, in his innocence, had in his ; but that we,
in our prefent condition, want fundry advantages which
he, in the height of his perfection, was not without. He
had the free power of obedience ; he had the perfect image
of his maker in all the divine qualities of knowledge and
holinels, which we have not ; and therefore, when we fay,
that he communicated to his pofterity a corrupted natm*e,
it muft not be underftood, as if that nature, which we re-
ceive, was infected with any vicious inclinations or habits,
to fway and determine our will to what is evil; but the
meaning is, that he communicated to us a nature, which
has indeed a power to incline, and act varioufly, but that
he did not, withal, communicate to us the image of God,
nor that fullnefs of knowledge and power of obedience,
which were requifite to make all its actions and inclinations
holy and regular : and our nature is therefore faid to be
corrupted, becaufe it is comparatively bad ; becaufe it is re-
duced to its mere natural ftate, which at the beft is a
ftate of imperfection, and deprived of that grace which
fhould have reftrained it from fin, and of thofe other high
endowments wherewith at firft it was invefted.
This is a fair account of our- original corruption : it
ftands clear of the difficulties that attend the other opi-
nions, and is not inconfiftent with the notions we have
of the divine attributes. For barely to withdraw thofe
extraordinary gifts, which were not effential to man's
nature, but fiich as God additionally had beftowed upon
him ; and he, by his, tranfgreffion, unworthily forfeited, is
what agrees very well widi the wildom and juftice, and
holinefs of God to do ; though to infufe a po'fitive malig-
nity, or fuch a ftrong inclination to wickeneis in us, as in-
duces a neceffity of finning, moit certainly does not.
That the judge of all the world cannot but do- right,
and he, luho keepcth mercy from generation to generation?
can have no hand in any cruel action, is a certain truth,
and what our firft reflections on the divine nature teach
us. Thofe therefore who maintain, that Adam's fin \i
not imputed to us to Qur damnation, or, that children
unbaptifed, are not the objects of divine vengeance, nor
fhad be condemned to hell, or an eternal expuliion from
God's prefence, for what was done many thoufand years
Before they were born, are fo fir in the right, as they op^
pofc
114 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i. pofe an opinion which clouds the amiable attributes of
Ant. Chni. God, and represents him in a drefs of horror, and engaged
C»en. ch. 3. m ac^s °^ extreme fe verity at leaft, if not unrelenting cruel-
ty. Hell certainly is not fo eafy a pain, nor are the fouls
of children of fo cheap and fo contemptible a price, as that
God Ihould fnatch them from their mother's womb, and
throw them into perdition without any manner of con-
cern ; and therefore, when men argue againft fuch por-
tions as thefe, they are certainly to be commended, be-
caufe therein they vindicate the facred attributes of God :
but when they carry their oppolition to a greater length
than it wilijuftly go, fo as to affirm that there was no
fuch thing as a covenant between God and Adam, or if
there was, that Adam contracted for himfelf only ; that his
guilt confequently was perfonal, and cannot, in juftice, be
imputed to us ; that fince we had no fhare in the tranf-
greffion, there is no reafon why we fhould bear any part
in the punifhment ; that we are all born, in fhort, in the
fame Hate of innocence, and are under the fame favour
and acceptance with Almighty God, that Adam, before
the firft tranfgreffion was : when they advance fuch po-
sitions as thefe, in maintenance of their oppolition, they
fadly forget, that while they would feem advocates for the
mercy and goodnefs of God, they are taking away the
foundation of the fecond covenant ; deftroying the necef-
iity of a divine mediator ; and overlooking thofe declara-
tions in Scripture, which affirm, that (m) all the world is
became guilty before God', that all men, both Jews and Gen-
tiles, are under fin ; have come Jhort of the glory of God, (n)
and are by nature the children of wrath.
To make an agreement then between the word of God,
and his attributes in this particular, we may fairly allow,
that there really was a covenant between God and Adam
at the firft creation ; that in making that covenant, Adam,
as their head and common reprefentative, Stipulated for all
mankind, as well as for himfelf ; and that, in his tranf-
greffion of it, the guilt and the punifhment due there-
upon, was imputed to all his pofterity. This we may al-
low was the ftate and condition wherein Adam left us ;
but then we muft remember, that (0) the whole fcheme of
man's falvation was laid in the divine counfel and decree
from all eternity ; that God, fqrefeeing man would fall,
(«3 Rom. iii. 9. 19. 23. («) Eph. ii. 3. (0) Jen*
s-ins's Reafonablenefs, yoK 2.
determined
Chap. lit. from the Creation to the Flood. 1 15
determined to fend his Son to redeem him, and. determined A. M. r.
to do this long before the tranfgreffion happened : fo that Ant- chnf.
the wifdom and goodnefs of God had effectually provided Gen°ch. *
before-hand againft all the ill confequences of the fall, and -,_ — - _j
made it impoffible, that Adam's pofterity mould become
eternally miferable, and be condemned to the flames and
pains of hell, any other way than through their own perfonal
guilt and tranfgrefiions. The redemption of the world
was decreed, I fay, from eternity, and was actually pro-
mifed before any child of Adam was born, even before
the fentence was pronounced upon our firft parents ;
and as foon as it was pronounced, its benefits, without all
controverfy, did commence. So that, upon this hypothecs,
every infant that comes into the world, as it brings along
with it the guilt of Adam's fin, brings along with it like-
wife the benefits of Chrift's meritorious death, which God
hath fet forth, as a ftanding propitiation for the fins of the
•whole world. Nor can the want of baptifm be any ob-
struction to this remedy, fince the remedy was exhibited
long before the rite was inftituted ; and fince that rite,
when inftituted, (according to the fenfe of fome learned fa-
thers), was more a pledge of good things to come *, a type
of our future refurrection, a form of adoption into the
heavenly family, and of admiffion to thofe rich promifes
of God, which are hid in Jefus Chrifl, than, any ordinance
appointed for the myjlical wafhing away of fin. *
In fhort, as long as St Paul's epiftles are read, the ori- The whole
ginal compact between God and man, the depravation 0f^ummcdu?
human nature, and the imputation of Adam's guilt, muft
be received as ftanding doctrines of the church of Chrift :
but then we are to take great care in our manner of
explaining them, to preferve the divine attributes facred
and inviolate : and this may happily be effected, if we will
but fuppofe, that our hereditary corruption is occasioned,
not by the infufion of any pofitive malignity into us, but
by the fubduction of fupernatural gifts from us ; that the
covenant of grace commenced immediately after the co-
venant of works was broken, and has included all man-
* Baptizantur infantes (juxta Chryfoftomum et Theodoretum)
ut baptil'mus ipfis fit area futurorum bonornm, typus futnrae refur-
re&ionis, Dominicae paffionis communicatio, aique ut fuperne re-
generati, fan&iticati, in adoptionis jus adduc>i, et unigeniti cohas-
redes, per facrorum myfttriorum participationem, lint ; Whitby
Pi imputations peccati Adavi'u
kind
4.004
■Gen
i \6 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. 1. kind ever fince ; that the blood of Chrift fhields his chil-
Ant. Chnf. £ren from the wrath of God ; and that the imputation of
*°ch! Adam's guilt, and obnoxioufnefs to punifhment, is efFectual-
■^^^m^jly taken away, by the meritorious oblation of that Lamb
of God, which was /lain from the foundation of the world.
CHAP. IV.
Of the muriher of Abel, and the bani/hment of Cain,
The History.
A M. 1x8. /^\UR firft parents, we may fuppofe *, after a courfe
!*« 6 V-^ °^ Penance ar>d humiliation for their trrnfgreffion,
Gen. ch. 4. obtained the pardon and forgivenefs of God ; and yet the
tover. 2.5. corruption, which their fin introduced, remained uponhu-
'"""""V""— 'man nature, and began to difcover itfelfin that impious
Abel's birth ^a<-^ w^ch ^am committed upon his brother Abel. Cain
was the firft child that was ever born into the world ;
and his mother Eve was fo fully perfuaded, that the pro-
* The oriental writers are very full of Adam's forrows and
lamentations upon this occafion. They have recorded the feveral
forms of prayer wherein he addrefTed God for pardon and for-
givenefs ; and fome of the Jewilh doctors .are of Opinion, that the
thirty- fecond pfalm, wherein we meet with thefe expreflions, /
acknowledge my fin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid;
Ifaid J will confefs ?ny iranfgrejfons unto the Lord, and thou
forgave/} the iniquity of my fin, was of his compofing.
Our excellent Milton, to the fame purpofe, introduces Adam,
after a melancholy foliluquy with himfelf, and fome hafty alterca-
tions with Eve, propofing at length this wholefome advice to her ;
What better can we do, than to the place
Repaiiing, where hejudg'd us, prod rate fall
Before him reverent ; and there confefs
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg ; with tears
Wat'ring the ground, and with our fighs the air
Frequenting, fent from hearts contrite, in fign
Of forrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek ?
Undoubtedly he will relent, and turn
From his diipleafure : in whofe looks ferene,
When angry molt he feem'd, and mod: fevere,
What elfs but favour, grace, and mercy ihone'? Book 10.
miicd
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 117
mifed feed would immediately defcend from her, that fheA. M. 118.
fuppofed him to be the perfon who was to fubdue theAnt- Chrif.
power of the great enemy of mankind ; and therefore, Gen3 ^*
upon her delivery, Ihe cried out in a tranfport of joy, to ver. ij.
f / have gotten a man from the Lord, and accordingly*
gave him the name of Cain, which Signifies foffcffion or ac-
quifition ; never fufpecting, that as foon as he grew up,
he would occafion her no fmall forrow and difconfolation.
The next fon that ihe bore, (which was the year
following), was called f Abel, denoting for row and mourn''
ing ; but very probably he might not receive that name,
until his tragical end, which caufed great grief to his pa-
rents, verifying the meaning of it. Other children, we
may prelume, were all along born to our firft parents ;
but thefe are the two who, for fome time, made the
principal figure ; and as they had the whole world be-
fore them, there was fmall reafon (one would think) for
thofe feuds and contentions, whicfy, in after ages, em-
broiled mankind. But the misfortune was, they were per-
fons of quite different tempers ; and accordingly, when
they grew up, betook themfelves to different employments j
Cain, who was of a furly, fordid, and avaritious temper,
to the tilling of the ground ; and Abel, who was more
gentle and ingenuous in his difpofition, to the keeping of
iheep.
•f- Ifb eth Jehovah, which our tranflation makes a man
from the Lord, (hould rather be rendered the man, the Lord. Hel-
vicus has fliewn, in fo many inftances in Scripture, that eth is
an article of the accusative cafe, that it feems indeed to be the
Hebrew idiom ; belides, that it is a demonstrative, or emphatic
particle, which points at fome thing or perfon, in a particular
manner ; and therefore feveral, both Jewifh and Chriftian doc-
tors, have taken the words in this fenfe* That our grand-
mother Eve, when delivered of Cain, thought ihe had brought
forth the Meflias, the God-man, who was to brulfe the fevpmi 's
head, or deftroy Satan's power and dominion .-iccording to the j
promife, which God had made her; Edward's Survey of religion?
vol. I.
\ Others derive the name from a word which Signifies va-
nity, and are of opinion, that Eve intended then by, either to
declare the little efkcm fhe had of him, in comparifbn of her
firft born ; or to (hew the vanity of her hopes, in taking Cain
for the Meffiah ; or to denote, that all things in the world, into
which he was now come, were mere vanity and vexation of fo-
nt ; Patrick's Commentary, and Saurin's Dificrtation.
Vol. I. G g It
1 1 8 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. 1 18. It was a cuftomary thing, even in the infancy of the
Ant. Chnf.woric}> to make acknowledgments to God, by way of
Gen. ch. 4. oblation, for the bountiful fupply of all his creatures ; and
tou- 25. accordingly Jl thefe two brothers were wont to bring offer-
*• — v^~» -'ings, fuitable to their refpective callings : Cain, as an huf-
Their obla-bandman, the fruits of the ground ; and Abel, as a fhep-
herd, the firftlings, or (as fome will have it) the J milk
' . of
j| In the laff. vcrfe of this chapter we read, that it was in the
days of Enos, when men fir ft began to call on the name of the
Lard; and yet, in the third and fourth verfes thereof, we find
th,at Cain and Abel brought their refpeclive offerings to die place
(as w<° may (bppofe) of divine worfliip. Now, if the begin-
ning of divine worfliip was in the days of Enos, what worfhip
was this in the days of Cain and Abel ? To have two begin-
nings for the falBe worfliip, is a thing incongruous, unlefs we
can iuppofe, that the two brothers, when they came with their
oblations, did not worfliip at all ; neither opening their lips in
the divine benefactor's praife, nor invocating a blefllng upon
what his bounty had feat them, which is highly mconfiftent
with the character of worfhippers. But in. anfwer to .this,
we muft obferve, that the worfliip of God is of two kinds,
public and private ; that the worihip wherein thefe brothers
were concerned, was of the latter fort; for Cain is mentioned by
• himfelf, and Abel by himfelf. They came to the place of wor-
fliip feverally ; their facrifices were not the fame : neither were
the offerers of the fame mind. But the worfliip which was
inftituted in the time of Enos, was of a public nature, when
feveral families, under their refpeclive heads, met together in
the fame place, and joined in one common fervice, whether of
prayers, praifes, or facrifices. Though the phrafe of mens be-
ginning to call upon the na?ne of the Lord, may pcffibly bear ano-
ther conftruenVn, as we (hall fhew when we come to examine
the place itfelf ; Street's Dividing of the hoof.
^ It is a pretty common opinion, that the eating of fleflr.
was not pei mittcd before the flood ; and it is the pofition of Gro*
tius,' that no carnal facrifices were, ai that time, offered ; be-
caufe nothing, I uf what was of ufe to man, was to lie confe-
created to God.' The fcarcity of cattle might very well cxcule
their being Bain in the worfhip of God ; and therefore fince the
fame word in Hebrew, [Hhajab, or Hheltb'], according to iis dif-
ferent punctuation, flgnifies both fat and milk, and accordingly
5s rendered'both ways by the LXX, many learned men feem.
rather to favour the latter, as finding it a cuftom among the
ancient Egyptians, to facrifice milk to their deities, as a token
and acknowledgment of the fecundity of their cattle ; Le Clcrc's
Covittientarj>,
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 110,
of his flock. Upon fome fet and folemn occafion then, A. M. i*«r«
(p) (and not improbably at the end of harvefl), as they Ant- chlli-
were prefenting their refpecYive offerings, God, who elti- Gel 7c]l'
mates the fincerity of the heart more than the value of to ver. 25,
the oblation, f gave a viiibte token of his acceptance of— —v— -J
Abel's facrifice, preferable to tlut of Cain, which fo en-
raged, and tranfported him with envy aguiafr. his brother,
that he could not help fhswmg it in his countenance.
God however, in great kindnefs, condefcended to ex- God's «-
poftulate the matter with him. telling him, " (q) ThatP^u!ltion
< u- t n. . . j r ••■ • 1 1 with Cam;
" his reipect to true goodnels was impartial, wnere-ever
" he found it, and that % therefore it was purely his own
" fault, that his offering was not equally accepted ; that
Commentary, and Saurins Differtation. But the learned Heideg-
ger is of an opinion quite the contrary; Vid. Exercit. 15. De
eia.0 autediluviano.
(p) HeiJegger's Hiftoria patriarch a rum.
f The Jews are generally of opinion, that this vifible token of
God's accepting Abel's facrifice, w:is a tire, or lightning, which
came from heaven, and con fumed it. The footfteps of this we
meet with in a Ihort time after, Gen- xv. 17. and the examples
of it were many in future ages, viz. when Mofes offered the
firit burnt-offering according to the law, Lev. ix. 24.; when
Gideon offered upon the rock, Jud. vi. 21.; when David flayed
the plague, r Chron. xxi. 26. ; when Solomon confecrated the
temple, 2 Chron. vii. T.; and when Elijah contended with the
Baalites, 1 Kings xviii. 38. &c. And accordingly, we find the
Ifraelites, (when they wifli all profperity to their king), praying,
that God would be pleafed to accept (in the Hebrew, turn into
afoes) his Durnt facrifice, Plal. xx. 3. ; Patrick and Le Clerc's
Commentary.
(q) Patrick's Commentary.
j The words in our tranllation are, If thou doe/} well, /halt
thou not be accepted ? ver. 7. which fome render, /halt thai ?r>t
receive, viz. a reward ? others, J}jalt thou not be pardoned? and
others again, thou /halt be elevated to -dignity. But if we con-
ftder, what God fays to Cain in the two foregoing verfes, that
his countmance was fallen, we cannot but perceive, that in this
he promifes him, that if he did well, he (hould live his face
I'ftedup, and that he Ihould have no more reafon *.■ ' "H;
forfo the Scripnirc frequently exprcdes a fear ei .1 x
flatc : If iniquity be in thine hand, fays one of Job's friends,
put it aivay from thee, and let not wickednefs dwell in thy taber-
nacle: ; for then thou /halt lift up thy face without fpet, Job. xi,
1 j. ; Effay for a new tran/Iatien.
G g 2 " p>'ty
1 20 The Hiflory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. nj8. " piety was the proper difpofition for a facrificer ; and
Ant. Chrif. u that, if herein he would emulate his brother, the fame
Gen.ch. 4. " tQkens of divine approbation fhould attend his obla-
tx>ver. is, " tions ; (r) that it was folly and madnefs in him to har-
bour any revengeful thoughts againft his brother ; be-
' caufe, if he proceeded to put them in execution, % a
' dreadful punifhment would immediately overtake him ;
' and that leaft of all had he reafon to be angry with him
1 whofe preference was only a token of his fuperior vir-
' tue, and not intended to fupplant him of his birthright,
' (s) which lhould always be inviolate, and his brother
• be obliged to f pay him the refpecl: and homage that
" was
(r) Poole's Annotations.
J The words in our tranflation are, Sin lieth at thy door .«
where, by fin, the generality of interpreters mean, the punifli-
ment of fin, which is hard at hand, and ready to overtake the
wicked. But our learned Lightfbot obferves, that God does not
here prefent himfelf to Cain, in order to threaten, but to en-
courage him, as the firft words of his fpeech to him do im-
port ; and that therefore the bare defcription of lying at the door,
does plainly enough insinuate, that the text does not fpeak either
of errors or punilhment, but of a facrifice for fin, which the
Scripture often calls by the Hebrew word here, and which was
commonly placed before the door of the fanituary, as may be
feen in feveral paffages in Scripture. So that, according to this
fenfe, God is here comforting Cain, even though he did amifs in
maligning his brother, and referring him to the propitiation of
Chrift, which, even then, was of {landing force for the remif-
fion of fin ; Effay for a new tranflation. But this fenfc of the
word feems a little too far-fetched.
(s) Le Clerc's Commentary.
\ The words in the text are, unto thee Jh all he his defire,
Gen. Hi. 16. which (however fome expositors have clouded
them) will appear to be plain and eafy enough, if we do but
confider, that there are two expreffions, in the Hebrew tongue,
to fignify the readinefs of one perfon to ferve and refpecl: ano-
ther. The one is {aine el yad~\ or our eyes are to his hand ;
the other \tejhukah el~\ or our dsfire is to him. The former ex-
preffes our outward attendance, and the latter the inward tem-
per and readinefs of our mind to pay refpecl. Of the former
we have an inftance in Pfal. exxxiii. The eyes offervants are to
the hand of their mafiers, and the eyes of a maiden are to the
hand of her miflrefs, i. e. they ftand ready with a vigilant ob-
fervance to execute their orders. We meet the other expref-
fion in the place before us, and it imports an inward temper
and
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 121
" was due to his primogeniture ; which, if he was minded a. M. i»9i
" to preferve, his wifeft way would be to be quiet, and Ant. Clmf.
" not proceed one ftep farther in any wicked deiign." Ge^ ^
This was a kind admonition from God : but fo little t0 ver. iS.
effect had it upon Cain, that inftead of being fenfible of (
his fault, and endeavouring to amend, he grew more and
more incenfed againfl: his brother ; infomuch, that at laft
he took a refolution to kill him ; but diflembled his de-
fign, until he mould find a proper opportunity.
And, to this purpofe, coming to his brother one day,
and pretending great kindnefs to him, he alked him very
friendly to take a walk with him in the fields, where,
having got him alone *, upon fome pretence or other, he
picked a quarrel with him, and fo fell upon him, and flew
and difpofition of mind to pay refpecT: and honour, fits de-
fire will be unto thee, h e, he will be heartily devoted (as we fay
in Englilh) to honour and refpect you. And thou /halt [or
mayeft] rule over him, i. e. you may have any fervice from htm
you can defirc; Shuekford's Connexion, vol. 1.
* According to the Englilh tranflation, Mofes tells us, ver. 8.
that Cain talked with Abel his brother. The words ftriclly
fignify, Cain f aid unto Abel his brother ; after which there is a
blank fpace left in the Hebrew copies, as if fomething was want-
ing. The Samaritan Pentateuch, and the LXX verlion fupply
this, by adding the words, Let us go into the fields ; but the
Jcrufalem Targum, and that of Jonathan, have fupplied us with
their whole converfation As they went along, " I know,
" fays Cain, that the world was created by the mercy of God,
" but it is not governed according to the fruit of our good
M works, and there is refpecl of perfons in judgment. Why
" was thy oblation favourably accepted, when mine was reject-
" ed ? Abel anfwered and faid unto Cain, The world was cre-
" ated in mercy, and is governed according to the fruits of
** our good works. There is no refpect of perfons in judg-
* ment ; for my oblation was more favourably received, be-
" caufe the fruit of my works was better, and more precious,
" than thine. Hereupon Cain in a fury breaks out, There is no
" judgment, nor judge, nor any other world ; neither mall
" good men receive any reward, nor wicked men be punilhed.
" To which Abel replied, There is a judgment and a judge,
" and another world, in which good men (hall receive a re-
•* ward, and wicked men be punilhed." Upon which their en-
fued a quarrel, which ended in Abel's death. So that, according
to this account, Abel fuffered for the vindication of the truth,
and was, in reality, the firft martyr ; Ejlhius in dijicilicra
/oca.
him,
122 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. iiS-lxini^ ancl afterwards (t) buried him in the ground; to pre-
* 8 <s Vfent< a^ difcovery : but it was not long before he was
Gen. ch. 4. called to an account for this horrid fact. God appeared to
to ver. is. him, and having queftioned him about his brother, and re-
v-— *•"■■■-' ceived fome fullen and evaiive ani Vers from him, directly
charged him with his murther ; and then reprefenting it in
its proper aggravations, as a crime unpardonable, and what
cried aloud to heaven for vengeance, he proceeded imme-
diately to pafs fentence upon him.
and Tea- Cain's chief (u) defign and ambition was, to make
tencea- himfelf great and powerful, in favour with God, and in cre-
gapft him. j:t ^{.^ men, without any one to ftand in competition
. with him 5 but in every thing he intended, he found himfelf
difappointed, for attempting to accomplish his ends in fo
wicked a manner. Inftead of growing great and opulent,
the ground was fentenced not to yield him her Jirength, i. e.
he was to be unprofperous in his hufbandry and tillage :
inftead of enjoying God's favour without a rival, he was
banilhed from his prefence, and for ever excluded from that
happy converfe with the Deity which, in thefe firft ages
of the world, it was cuftornary for good men to enjoy :
and inftead of being a man of renown among his family,
he became a fugitive and vagabond ; was banilhed from his
native country, and compelled to withdraw into fome di-
ftant and defolate part of the earth, as an abominable per-
fon, not worthy to live, nor fit to be endured in any civil
community.
The fame principle, which leads wicked men to the
commifflon of crimes, in hopes of impunity, throws them
into defpair, upon the denunciation of punifhment. This
fentence of Cain, though infinitely fhort of the heinoufnefs
of his guilt, made him believe, f that he was to undergo
much
(t) Jofephus's aatiq; 1. 1. c. 3. (a) Shuckford's Intro-
duction, vol. 1.
+ The words' in our tran Union are, My punifJwiev.t is great-
er than I can bear ; but as the Hebrew word \_dven~\ Signifies
ih'nrtitv, rather than punifhment, and the verb \NaJJ)»\ Signifies
I to be 'forgiven., as well as to bear, it ftems to agree better with
the context, if the verfe be rendered either politively, My im-
\ qulty is too great to be forgiven, or (as the Hebrew expositors
take it) by way or" interrogation, Is my iniquity too great to be.
forgiven P which feems to be the better of the two ; ShuckforJ's
Connexion, vol. 1. A learned annotator has obferved, that as
there are feven abominations in the heart of him that loyeth not
his
Chap. IV. From the Creation to the Flood. 123
much greater evils than it really imported ; and that not^ M. iz3,
only the miferies of baniihment, but the danger likewife of ' _*" '
being {lain by every one that came near him, was enfuantGen. ch. 4,
upon it. But, to fatisfy him in this refpect, God was plea-to ver. as-
fed to declare, that his providence mould protect him fromv~" *m^mmmJ
all outward violence ; and, to remove the uneafy apprehen-
flon from his mind, vouchfafed to give him a iign (very
(x) probably by ibme fenfible miracle) that no creature
whatever mould be permitted to take away his life ; bur,
that whoever attempted it mould incur a very fevere pu-
niihment; becaufe God (y) was minded to prolong his
days in this wretched eftate, as a monument of his ven-
geance, to deter future ages from committing the like mur-
ther.
Thus, by the force of the divine fentence, Ca^n left Cain's hl-
his parents and relations, and went into a ffarange country." lllKn "
He was banilhed from that facred place where God vouch-
fafed f frequent manifeftations of his glorious prefence ; and
though by the divine decree no perfon was permitted to hurt
his brother, Prov. xxvi. 25". there were the like number of tranf-
greflions in Cain's whole conduct ; for, 1 ft, he facrificed without
faith ; 2(!ly, was difpleafcd that God refbedted him not ; gdly,
hearkened not to God's admonition ; 4thly, fpake diifemblingly
to his brother ; 5thly, killed him in the field ; 6ihly, denied tbflt
he knew where he was ; and, 7thly, neither afked, nor hoped for
mercy from God, but defpaired, and fo fell into the condemnation
of the ^evil ; Alnfivorth' s Annotations.
(x) Univerfal Hiftory, numb. 2. (y) Patrick's Com-
mentary.
f Both Lightfoot, Heidegger, and Le Clerk, fe"em to be of o-
pinion, that what we render the prefence of the Lord, was the
proper name of that particular place where Adam, after his ex-
pullion from paradife, dwelt ; and accordingly we find that part
of the country which lies contiguous to the fuppoied fituation.
of paradife, called by Strabo [lib. 16.] xpc&ctxw ®tS. How-
ever this be, it is agreed by all interpreters, that there was a
dlviteg'ory, called by the Jews Schechinau, which appeared
from the beginning, (as we laid before, page 40. in the notes)
and from which Cain being now banilhed, never enjoyed the
fight of it again. If, after this, Cain turned a downright ido-
later, (as many think), it is very probable that he introduced the
worlhip of the fun (which was the mod ancient idolatry) as
the beft refcmblance he could find of the glory of' dre Lord
which was wont to appear in a flaming light ; Pattkk't Com-
mentary,
him,
1 24 The Hiflory of the B I B L E, Book L
A. M. ir8. j1jnit yet? being confcious of his own guilt, he was fearful
I'g.g" 'of every tiling he faw or heai'd : till having wandered av
Gen. ch. 4. bout a long while in many different countries, he fettled
tover. aj. at length with his wife and family in the land of Nod ;
*— -V"-"-' where, in fome tract of time, and after his defcendants
were fufhciently multiplied, he built a city, that they might
live together, and be united, the better to defend them-
felves againft incurfions, and * to fecure their unjuft pof-
feffions ; and this place he called after the name of his fon
Enoch, which, in the Hebrew tongue, fignifies a dedica-
tion.
His defcen- This Enoch begat Jarad ; Jarad begat Mehujael ; Me-
dants. hujael begat Methulael ; and Methufael begat Lamech,
who was f the firft introducer of polygamy. For he married
two wives, Adah and Zillah, by the former of which he had
two
* The words of Jofeplms are thefe. " So far was Cain from
" mending his life after his afflictions, that he rather grew
u vvorfe and worfe, abandoning himfelf to his lufts, and all
n manner of outrage, without any regard to common juftice.
" He enriched himfelf* by rapine and violence, and made choice
" of the moft profligate of monfters for his companions, in-
" flrucfing them in the very myftery of their own profeflion.
" He corrupted the limplicity and plain dealing of former tunes,
" with a novel invention of weights and meafures, and ex-
" changed the innocency of that primitive generofity and
" candour for the new tricks of policy and craft. He was
" the frft who invaded the common rights of mankind by
t( bounds and inciofures, and the firft who built a city, for-
'* tified, and peopled it ;" Antiq. I. 1. c. 3.; and he Clerc's
Commtntary.
•f- Le Clerc, fuppofing that the increafe of females at the be-
ginning of the world was much greater than that of males, is
of opinion, that there might poffibly want a man to efpoufe one
of the women which Lamech married ; nor can he think that
Mofes intended to blame him for what was the conftant practice
of fome of the moft eminent of the poft-dilnvian patriarchs.
Bifhop Patrick likewife makes this apology for him. " His ear-
*f neft defire of feeing that bleffed feed," fays he, " which war.
*' promifed to Eve, might perhaps induce him to take more
*' wives than one, hoping, that by multiplying his pofterity, fome
" or other of them might prove fo happy as to produce that
" feed. And this he might poffibly perfuade himfelf" to be more- •
u likely, becaufe the right which was in Cain, the firft-born,"
u he might now conclude, was revived in himfelf ; and that the
*' curfe laid upon Cain was by this time expired, and his
H pofterity reftored to the right of fulfilling the promife." Both
Selden
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 125
two children; Jabal, f who made great improvements in 4. M. iz8>
the management of" cattle, and found out the ufe of tents;, Ant. OtfU:
(?) or moveable houfes, to be carried about to places of^m. di. 4.
frefh pa ft u rage ; and Jubal, who was the firft inventor oftovcr. 15-
all mufical inftruments, andhimfelf a great mafter and per-V" — y-—^
former. By the latter, he had Tubal-Cain, the firft who
difcovered (a) the art of forging and polifhing metals, and
thereupon deviled the making all forts of armour, both de-
feniive and offenfive ; and whofe lifter Naamah (a name
denoting fair and beautiful) is fuppofed to have firft found
out the art of lpinning and weaving,
if) This is the regifter of Cain's pofterity for feven
generations : and Mores, perhaps, might the rather enu-
merate them, to fhew who were the real authors and in-
ventors of certain arts and handycrafts, (c) which the E-
gyptians too vainly afTumed to themfelves: but then he
barely enumerates them, without ever remarking^how long
any of them lived, (a practice contrary to what he obferves
in the genealogy of the Sethites), as if he efteemed them a
generation fo reprobate as (d) not to deferve a place in the
book of the living.
The murther of Abel had for a long time occafioned tamech's
a great animoftty between the family of Seth and the <*e-jjscwj ■
i'cendents of Cain, who, though at fome diftance, lived in
perpetual appreheniions that the other family might come
Selden and Grotius plead for the lawful nefs of polygamy before
the Levitical difpenfation ; but the learned Heidegger (who has
a whole differtation upon the fubjecl) has fumciently anfwered
them, and proved at targe, that this cuftom of multiplying wives
is contrary both to the law of God and the law of nature ; Hijioria
fatriar. exercit. 7.
•j- The words in the text are, He "was the father cf
fitch as dwell in tents : for the Hebrews call him the father of a-
ny thing who was the firft inventor of it, or a moft excellent ma-
fter of that art •- and from the affinity of their names, as well as
?he 'fimilitudc of their inventions, learned men have fuppofed,
that Jabal was the Pales; Jubal the Apollo; Tubal-Cain (which
in the Arabic tongue, ltill lignifies a plate of iron or irafs) the Vul-
can; and his niter Naamah the Venus, or (as fome will have it) the
Minerva of the Gentiles ; Heidegger s Hijl. palriar.; and Mil-
ling fleet's Origines, I. 3. c. 5.
(z) Le Gere's Commentary. (a) Heidegger's Hiftoria
ptriar. (/•) Howell's Hillory of the Bible. (<?) Lc
Clerc's Commentary. {d) Patrick's Commentary.
V ••l.I, II h upon
1 2 6 The HiiTory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. 12.8. upon them unawares, and revenge Abel's untimely death :
Ant. Chnf. but Lamech, when he came to be head of a people, endea-
Gcn ch. a voure^ to reafon them out of this fear. For, (e) calling
to ver. aj. his family together, f he argued with them to this purpofe.
•*— v— -J" Why mould we make our lives uneafy with thefe
" groundlefs fufpicions ? What have we done, that we
" fhould
(e) Shnckford's Connection, vol. r.
f This fpeech of Lamech, as it (lands unconnected with any
thing before it, is (uppofcd by many to Le a fragment of fome
old record which Moles was willing to preferve ; and, becaufe it
feerasto fall into a kind of metre, fome have thought it a ihort
jketch of Lantech's poetry, which he was deiirous to add to his
fin's invention of mufic, and other arts. Many fuppofe,
that Lamech, h°ing plagued with the daily contentions of his
two wives, here bluitcrs and boafts of what he had done and
what he would do, if they gave him any farther moleftation.
Others imagine, that as the ufe of weapons was found out
by one of his fons, and now become common, his wives -were
fearful, left fome body or other might make ufe of them to
flay him ; but that, in this regard, he drfires them to be eafy,
becaufe, as he was not guilty of ikying any body himfelf, there
was no reafon to fear that any body would hurt him. The Tar-
gum of Onkelos, which reads the words interrogatively, favours
this interpretation much ; Have I 'flam a man to my wounding,
or a '.young man to, my hut t P i. e. I have done no violence or
:e to any one, either great or fmall, and have therefore no
canfe to be apprehenfive of any to myfelf. But the Rabbins
tell us a traditional ftory, which, if true, would explain the paf-
figeatonce. The tradition is, — " That Lamech, when he was
" Wind, took his fun Tubal-Cain to hunt with him in the woods,
'* where they happened on Cain, who being afraid of the fociety
" and converfe of men, was wonj. to lie lurking up and down in
<c the woods; that the lad miftook him for fome beatl flirring in
f the bullies, and directed his father, how, with a dart, or an
" arrow, he might kill him ; and this (they fay) was the man
e( whom be killed by his wounding him ; and that afterwards,
" when he came to perceive what he had done, he beat Tubal-
" Cain to death for mifmforming him ; and^this was the young
f* man whom he killed by hurting or beating him." But beiides,
the incongruity of a blind man's going a-huntlng, this ftory is di-
rectly contrary to the promife of God, which allured Cain, that
■po perfon (hould kill him, and feems indeed to be devifed for no
other purpofe, but merely to folve the difficulty of the pahage.
Among the many interpretations which have been made of it,
jbat which I have offered feems to be the inoft natural and ea-
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 127
" fhould be afraid ? We have not killed any man, nor of- A. M. u8-
" fered any violence to our brethren of the other family ; AnL '
'*. and furely reafon muft teach them, that they can have ctn. ch. 4.
"■ no right to hurt or invade us. Cain indeed, our an- to ver. is-
*' ceftor, killed Abel ; but God was plcafed fo far to for- v — "V— ^
" give his lin, as to threaten to take the fevered vengeance
" on any one that fhould kill him : and if fo, furely they
" muft expect a much greater puriifhrnenft, who lhall pre-
*' fume to kill any of us. For if Cain /ball be avenged /1--
" ven-foid, furely Lantech, or any of his innocent family,
" feventy-feven fold." And it is not improbable, that by
frequent difcouries of this kind, as well as by his own ex-
ample, he overcame the fears and fhynefs of the people,
and (as we {hall find it hereafter) encouraged them to com-
mence an acquaintance with their brethren, the children of
Seth. This is the fum of what the Scripture teaches us of
the deeds of Cain, and his wicked offspring, who were all
fwept away in the general deluge.
The Objection.
>UT how little foever the Scripture teaches us of That tIlefe
Cain and his adventures, yet it certainly teaches us n-icn bV^
" too much, ever to believe that Adam and Eve were the Adam.
" primogenial parents of mankind, (f) According to the
" Mofaic account, Cain and Abel were at this time the
*' only two perfons (excepting their parents) upon the face
<< of the earth; and yet, when we read that Abel was a
<< keeper of fheep, we cannot but fuppofe, that he kept
«« them for this reafon, that none of his neighbours
« might come and fteal them away ; and that Cain was a
« tiller of the ground, we cannot but infer, that there were
«< at that time all fuch artificers as were requifite to carry
*< on fuch an occupation, fmiths and carpenters, millers
tt and bakers, <bc.
fy, and is not a little countenanced by the authority of Jofephus.
" As for Lame ch," "fays he, " who law as far as any man into
" the courfe and methods of divine juflice, he could not but find
" fiimfelf concerned in the profpect of that dreadful judgment
" which threatened his whole family, for the nuirther of Abe],
" and, under this apprehension, he breaks the matter to his two
" wives;" Antiq. lib. 1. c. ;.
(f) Vid La Peirere's Syfteme theolcg. p. 1. 1. 3.; and Blnnt's
Oracles of reafon.
H h 2 u When
1 2 3 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
" When Cain intended to murther his brother, he en-
ticed him to go with him into the field : now the field,
we know, is ufually oppofed to a town, and therefore he
decoyed him thither, that he might avoid the eyes of his
fellow-citizens, who would otherwife have feen him, and
**. immediately dragged him away to punifhment. With
" fome weapon or other Cain muft have killed his brother,
" becaufe we read of (g) a large eifufioh of blood; and
" yet, who was the cutler that made him the fword ? Or,
" from what band of robbers was it that he had it ?
" After fentence was denounced againft him, Every one
u that fu-tdefh me fball Jlay me, fays he : but if his father
" and mother were the only perfons befides himfelf, what
" reafon had he for fuch an apprehenfion ? Or for what
" purpofe fliould God fet a mark upon this murderer, for
• " fear that any one ihould flay him, if there were not mul-
*\ titudes of men in the world that either designedly or ac-
" ci dentally might do it ?
" But allowing that Adam and Eve had fome few chil-
" dren befideS in the province of Eden; yet how came
" Cain, when bamfhed from his native country, to find
" the land of Nod (a land which, by the bye, no" one cart
" tell where it lies) fo well peopled in thole early days, as
" there to meet with woman enough, out of whom to chufe
'•' a wife, and men* in abundance to build him a citv ;
" which, to diftinguifh it trom other cities, (as then there
" might be marry), he called by the name of his fon _E-
" noch ? Thefe things are inconfiftent, and can never be
" reconciled, unlefs we fuppofe, that there was really a
" race of mankind before Adam, and thatMofes never in -
" tended to write of the primitive parents of all the world,
V (fince, within the compafs of a few lines, he lets fall lb
" many expreifions denoting the contrary), but only to
" give us an account of the origin of the Jewifli nation,
" which we fondly imagine to be the hiftory of the uni~
" vcrfal creation."
Anfwcr«l, Now, though it cannot be denied but that Moles might
1>V (hewing principally deiign to give us a hiftory or the Jewifli nation;
thatMofes yet,' in ihe beginning of his account, and till they came to
in^eijde ^e ([;^inguiihed from other nations in the patriarch Abra-
fifiifevan. ham, he could not have that under his peculiar confidera-
tion. He acquaints us, we find, with the origination of
the firii: of other animals, whence they arofe, and in what
(?) Ver 10. ii.
A manner
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 129
manner they were perfected; and when he came to treat a. M. ltg.
of the formation of human creatures, it is but reafonable Ant. chrif>
to imagine, that he intended likewife to be underftood of G 38?£-
the firft of their kind. Now, that Adam and Eve were thet0 Ver. iT.
firft of their kind, the words of our Saviour, (h) from tbpi — _. j
beginning of the creation Cod made them male and female,
are a full confirmation ; becaufe he produces the very
lame precept that was applied to Adam and Eve at their
creation, therefore jball a man leave his father and his
mother, and cleave to his wife : and that there could
be none before them, the reafon why (i) Adam called
his wife's name Eve, becaufe fbe was the mother of all
living, i. e. the perfon who was to be the root and
fource of all mankind that were to be upon the earth, is
a plain demonftration : for if fhe was the mother of all
living, there certainly was no race of men or women before
her.
St. Paul, while he was at Athens, endeavoured to con-
vince the people of the vanity of that idolatry into which
he perceived them fallen, by this argument, among others,
that (k) Cod had made of one blood all nations of men,
for to dwell on all the face of the earth* (/) Some Greek
copies read it i| Mir, of one man, leaving out «<^a7of, where-
in they are followed by the vulgar Latin : but allowing the
common reading to be juft, yet ftill the word h^a., or
blood, muft be taken in the -j- fenfe wherein it occurs in
the beft Greek authors, namely, for the itock or root out
of which mankind came ; and fo the Apoftle's reafoning
will be " That however men are now difperfed in
" their habitations, and differ fo much in language and
" cuftoms from each other, yet they all were originally of
" the fame ftock, and derived their fucceffion from the
'* firft man that God created." Neither can it be con-
ceived, on what account (m) Adam is culled in Scripture the
firfl man, and that he was made a living foul of the earth,
(b) Mark x. 6. (/) Gen. iii. 20. (k) A&s
xvii. 26. (/) Siillingflcct's Orig. facr. 1. 3. c. 4.
•j- Homer employs it in this acceptation :
E( triuv y ijj.o<i arc, x, eii/taloi nftiTlJMUQ.
Tliencc thole that are near relations are called by Sophocles,
htfhs hfuAoi'. and accordingly Virgil ufes fanguis in. the fame
fenfe :
Trnjano a fangnbu duct ; Stillingfleet's Orig. facr. 1. 3. c. 4.
(w) 1 Cor. xv. 4f. • .
* earthly,
1 30 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i%%. earthly, unlefs it were to denote, that he was abfolutely
Ant. Chrif. the firft of his kind, and fo was to be the ftandard and
G 38?f' meafure of all that followed.
to ver. zs- The delign of Mofes is not to give us a particular ao
^— V—- ^ count of the whole race of mankind defcended from Adam,
How Cain (?2) Dat oniy 0f thofe perfons who were moll remarkable,
hijferround an<1 wbofe ftory was neceffary to be known, for the un-
and why A- derftanding of the fucceffion down to his time. Belides
bel might thofe that are particularly mentioned in Scripture, we are
can? 1S to^ m genera^> tnat ddtpn (a) begat Jons and daughters ;
and if we will give credit to an ancient eaftern tradition,
he had in ail thirty-three fons, and twenty-feven daugh-
ters, which, confidering the primitive fecundity, would in
a fhort time be iufficient to ftock that part of the world
at leaft where Adam dwelt, and produce a race of me-
chanics able enough to fupply others with fuch inftruments
of hufbandry as might then be requifite for the cultivation
of the ground, (p) For in the infancy of the world, the
art of tillage was not come to fuch a perfection, but that
Cain might make ufe of wooden ploughs and fpades, and
inftead of knives and hatchets, form his tools wich fharp
flints or lhells, which were certainly the firft inftruments of
cutting. And though in thofe early days there was no
great danger of Abel's lofing his cattle by theft ; yet, to
provide them with cool fhades in hot climates, to remove
them from place to place as their pafture decayed, to take
care of their young, and guard them from the incurfions
of beafts of prey, (with many more incidental offices), was
then the mepherd's province, as well as now.
That there I According to the computation of moft chronologers,
vap nuri- 'll was *n t^ie hundred and twenty-ninth year of Adam's
bers of age, that Abel was flain ; for the Scripture fays exprefsly,
people then that Scth (q) (who was given in the lieu of Abel) was born
world6 ** *^e fawdred and thirtieth year, (very likely the year after
the murther was committed), to be a comfort to his difcon-
folate parents. So that Cain mufc be an hundred and twen-
ty-nine years old when he abdicated his own country j at
which time there might be a fiffficient quantity of man-
kind upon the face of the earth, to the number, it may
be, of an hundred thoufand fouls. For if the children of
Ifrael, from feventy perfons, in the fpace of a hundred and
ten years, became fix hundred thoufand fighting men,
(«) Patrick's Commentary. (0) Gen. v. 4. (/) Ni-
cholas Conference, vol. I. (</) Gen. v. 3.
(though
Chap IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 131
(though great numbers of them were dead during this in- A M. 1:8^
creafe), we may very well fuppofe, that the children of A-^' ^j-'
dam, whofe lives were fo very long, might amouilt at leaft Gen. ch. 4.
to a hundred thousand in a hundred and thirty years, to ver. ;;.
which are almoft five generations. v— "~ v~" —J
Upon this fuppofition, it will be no hard matter to find^.hat tllc
Gain a wife in another country; f though it is much ^7 e
more probable that he was married before his banifhment,
becaufe we may well think that all the world would abhor
the thoughts of marriage with fuch an impious vagabond
and murthcrer. Upon this fuppofition we may likewife
find him men enough to build and inhabit a city ; efpe-
cially (r) confidering that the word [-#//"] which we ren-
der city, may denote no more than a certain number of
cottages, with . fome little hedge or ditch about them :
and this clulter of cottages (as was afterwards cuftoma-
ry) he might call by his ion's name rather than his own,
which he was confeious was now become odious every
where. Upon this fuppolition, laftly, we may account for
Cain's fear, left every one that lighted on him would kill
him ; for by this time mankind was greatly multiplied,
and, (s) though no mention is made of Abei's marriage,
(as, in fo fhort a compendium, many things rauft neceflarily
be omitted), yet he perhaps might have fons who were rea-
dy to purfue the fugitive, in order to revenge their father's
death; or fome of his own fillers, enraged againft him for
the lols of their brother, might poflibly come upon him
-j- There is an oriental tradition, that Eve, at her two firil
births, brought twins, a fon and a daughter; Cain, with his
lifter Azron, and Abel, with his lifter Awin ; that when they
came to years of maturity, Adam propofed to Eve, that Cain
mould marry Abel's twin -fifler, and Abel Cain's, becaufe that
was fome fmall remove from the nearefl degree of confangoi-
nity, which, even in thofe days, was not eflecmcd entirely law-
ful ; that Cain refufed to agree to this, infilling to have his own
fifler, who was the handibmer of the two ; whereupon Adam or-
dered them both to make their offerings, before they took their
wives, and fo referred the difpute to the determination cf God ;
that while they went up td the mountain for that purpofe, the
devil put it into Cain's head to murder his brother, for which
wicked intent hjs facrifice was not accepted : and that they were
no fooner come down from the mountain, than he fell upon Abel,
and killed him with a (tone ; Patrick" i Comae/ttary ; and Uni-
;! ffiftofy, N ° . 2.
»/) ' Commentary, (0 Patrick's Commentary.
unawares,
1 3 1 The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A- M. 1 18. unawares, or when thev found him aileep, and fo difpatch
Ant. Clmf.him>
Gen.ch. 4. Various are the conjectures of learned men J con-
to ver. is. cerning the mark which God fet upon Cain, to prevent
' v— — 'his being killed. Some think that God ftigmatized him on
and mark j^ forerieaci ^[xh a letter of his own name, or rather fet
Cain. fuch a brand upon him, as fignified him to be accurfed.
Others fancy that God made him a peculiar garment, to dif-
tinguifh him from the reft of mankind, who were cloathed
with fkins. Some imagine, that his head continually
jhaked ; others, that his face was blafted with lightning ;
others, that his body trembled all over ; and others again,
that the ground Ihook under him, and made every one fiy
from him : whereas the plain fenfe of the words is nothing
more, than that God gave Cain a fign, or wrought a mi-
racle before his face, thereby to convince him, that though
he was banifhed into a ftrange land, yet no one mould be
permitted to hurt him ; and to find out the land into
which he was banifhed, is not fo hard a matter as fome may
imagine.
of Nod ^ie defcription which Mofes gives us of it is this.
where, or (t) And Cain went out from the prefence of the Lord, and
what it was. dwelt in the land of Nod, on the e aft of Eden ; and there
he built a city, and called the name of it after the name
of his fori Enoch. Hereupon (u) the learned Huetius ob-
J Almoft all the verfions have committed a miftake in tranf-
lating ver. 15. that Cod had put a mark upon Cain, tejl any find-
ing him Jhould kill him. ,The original fays no fuch thing, and
the LXX have very well rendered it thus — Cod fet a fign before
Cain, to perjuade him, that whoever Jhoutd find him Jhould not
kill him. This is almoft the fame with what is faid in Exod. x. 1.
that Cod did figns before the Egyptians ; and Ifa. Ixvi. 19. that
he wou Id fet a fign before the Heathen ;<■ where it is evident, that
God did not mean any particular mark which fhould be fet on their
bodies, but only thofe ligns and wonders which he wrought in E-
gypt, to oblige Pharaoh to let his people go; and the miraculous
manner wherein he delivered them from the Babylonifh captivity*
This expofiticn is natural, and agreeable to the methods of divine
providence, which is wont to convince the incredulous by iigns
and w onders ; nor could any thing elfe a fibre Cain, in the fear he
was under, that the firft who met him mould not kill him, afier
what God had faid to him in exprobation of his crime ; Patrick's
Commentary ; and Saiirins Dijprtation.
(t) Gen. iv. 16. 17. (») Pe la fitu. du paradis.
ferves,
Chap. III. from the Creation to the Flood. 133
ferves, that Ptolemy, in his defcription of Sufiana, places A. M. ii8.
tnere a city called Annchtha ; and that the fyllable tha, Ant- chrif-
which ends the word, is, in the Chaldee language, a ter- Gen8^' 4
mination pretty common to nouns feminine, and confe-tover xs.
quently no part of the name itfelf : from whence he in-
fers, that this Anuchtha, mentioned by Ptolemy, is the lame
with the city Enoch mentioned by Mofes ; elpecially lince
Ptolemy places it on the eaft lide of Eden, which agrees
very well with what Mofes fays of the land of Nod. (x)
But though it be allowed, that Anuchtha and Enoch be the
fame name, yet it will not therefore follow, that there was
no other city fo called but that which was built by Cain.
It is certain, that there was another Enoch, the fon of Ja-
red, and father of Methufelah, a perfon of remarkable
piety, in the antediluvian age ; and why might not the
city, mentioned by Ptolemy, be called after him, in refpeft
to his illuftrious character, and miraculous exemption from
death ? or rather, why might it not take its name from
fome other Enoch, different from both the former, and li-
ving fome generations after the flood ? For it is fcarce ima-
ginable, how the city of Enoch, built before the flood,
fhould either ftand or retain its ancient name, after fo vio-
lent a concuflion, and total alteration of the face of na-
ture.
Nor fhould it be forgot, that the province of Sufiana,
where Huetius places the land of Nod, is one of the moft
fruitful and pleafant countries in the world : whereas,
confidering that Cain's banifhtnent was intended by God to
be part of his punilhment, it feems more reafonable to
think, that he fhould, upon this account, be fent into fome
barren and defolate country, remote from the place of his
nativity, and feparated by mountains, and other natural
obftructions, from the commerce of his relations. For
which reafon, the learned Grotius is clearly of opinion,
that the country into which Cain was fentenced to with-
draw, was Arabia deferta : to the barrennefs of which,
the curfe that God pronounces againft him, feems not im-
properly to belong, (y) And now thoit art cur Jed from the
earth, and "when thou tillcjl the ground, it fitall not, hence-
forth, yield unto thee her Jlrength. But after all, their
opinion is not to be found fault with, who fuppofe, thai
the word Nod, which fignifies an exile, or fugitive, is
not a proper, but only an appellative name ; and that there-
(v) Well's Geography. (_>•) Gen. iv. II,
Vol. I. I i fore,
i34 The Hiftony of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.M. n3.fore, where-ever the country was where Cain took up his
Ant. Chnf. abode, that, in after ages, was called the land of Nod,
Gen ch 4 or tne land °^ ^e hanifhed man.
tover. 15. Thus the account, which Mofes gives us of the mur-
*•<— ~v— «—' ther of Abel, {lands clear of the imputation of all abfurdi-
A recapitu- ty QX contradi£tion, wherewith the lovers of infidelity
nnfVer. would gladly charge it. The time when his brother mur-
thered him, was in the 129th year of the world's crea-
tion, when, f according to a moderate computation, their
and their parents defendants could not but be very nu-
merous. The manner in which he murthered him might
not be with a fword or fpear (which perhaps then were
not in ufe), * ilnce a club, or ftone, or any rural inftru-
snent, in the hand of rage and revenge, was lufficient to
■\ Though we mould fuppofe, that Adam and Eve had no
other children than Cain and Abbel in the year of the world
128, which (as the heft chronologevs agree) was the time of
Abel's murther; yet, as itmuft: be allowed, that they had daugh-
ters married with thefe two fons, we require no more, than the
descendants of thefe two children, to make a confiderable num-
ber of men upon the earth in the faid year 128. For, fup-
pofmg them to have been married in the 19th year of the world,
they might eafily have had each of them eight children, fome
jnales, (bme females, in the 25th year In the 50th year there
might proceed from them, in a direct line, 64 perfons; in the
74th year, there would be 572 ; in the 98th, 4096 j and in the
1 2 2d year, they would amount to 32,768. If to thefe we add
the other children, ciefcended from Cain and Abel, their chil-
dren, and the children of thei* children, we mail have in the
aforefaid I22d year, 421,164 men, capable of generation,
without ever reckoning the women, both old and young, or
fuch children, as are under the age of 1 7 years ; Vid Divert,
ehronol. geogr. critique fur la Bible ; divert. 1. in the Journal of J
Paris, Jan. 171 2, vol. LI. p. 6.
* There is an oriental tradition, that when Cain was con-
firmed in the delign of ddtroying his brother, and knew not how
to ||c> about it, the devil appeared to him in die lhape of a man,
holding a bird in his hand ; and that, placing the bird upon a
rock, he took up a flone, and with it fqueezed its head in
pieces. Cain, inftructed by this example, refolved to ferve his
brother in the fame way ; and therefore, waiting till Abel was
alleep, he lifted i;p a large ftone, and let it fall, with all its
weight, npen his head, and fo killed him ; whereupon God
caufed him to hear a voice from heaven, to this purpofe, The
rejl of thy days /halt thou pafs in perfciual fear ; Calmet's Dictio-
nary on Lhe word Ab:>.
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 135
do tb ark. The place where he murthered him, is faid A. M. 1*8,
to be in the field, (z) not in contradhtinftion to any large Ant- Chrif,
and populous city then in being, but rather to ttte tents, Gc3n87^'
or cottages, where their parents and offspring might thent0 ver. ;i.
live. The caufe of his murthering him, was (a) a fpirit of >— - y— «^
emulation, which, not duly managed, and made a ipur to
virtue, took an unhappy turn, and degenerated into ma-
lice : and the true realon of all (as the Apoftle has (rated
it) was, that (b) Cain was of that wicked one, and /Jew bis
brother, becaufe his own works were wicked, and his bro-
ther s righteous.
DISSERTATION IV.
Of the injlitution of facrifices.
THE firft plain account that we meet with of facri- Sacrifices,
fices, is here in the examples of Cain and Abel.^1^'.^
Mention is made indeed of the fkins of fbme beads, where-
with God directed our firft parents to be cloathed ; but ex-
pofitors are not agreed, whether what we render fkins
might not denote fome other fort of covering, or fhelter
from the weather; or, if they were the real fkins of beafts,
whether thefe beafts were offered unto God in facrifice or
no ; whereas, in the Scripture before us, we have obla-
tions of both kinds, bloody and unbloody facrifices, (as they
are commonly diftinguifhed) ; the fruits of the field, of-
fered by Cain ; and the firlllings of the flock, by Abel.
So that from hence we may very properly take an occa-
fion, to inquire a little into the original of facrifices ; for
what ends and purpofes they were at firft appointed ; and
by what means they became an acceptable fervice unto God.
The Scriptures indeed make no mention of the firft in- Of divine
ftitution of facrifices ; and from their filence in this re-n'^lt'ltl0n
fpecl, fome have imagined, that they proceeded originally
from a dictate of nature, or a grateful inclination to re-
turn unto God fome of his own bleffings. But in Co fhort
an account of fo large a compafs of time, (as we have laid,
before), it may well be expected, that feveral things fhouid
be omitted. To this purpofe therefore others have ob-
ferved, that Mofes fays nothing (c) of Enoch's prophecy ;
nothing (d) of Noah's preaching; nothing (<?) of the peopling
(z) Le Gere's Commentary. (a) Shuckford's Cormcdi n.
(b) 1 Johniii. 13. (c) Jade 14. (d) 2Pct.i1. 5. (*) Vid, Gen, iv.
I i 2 cf
ri36 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. u8. of the world ; though thefe be referred to in other parts of
Ant. Chni Scripture : (/) nor does he here introduce the facrifices of
Gen. ch! 4.^a'n anc* Abel, with an intent to inform us of the origin of
to ver. %$. that rite, but merely to let us know what was the unhappy
'occafion of the firft murther that was ever committed in
the world.
The (g) Jews indeed, to whom he primarily wrote,
knew very well, that their own facrifices were of divine in-
ditudon, and that God had manifefted his acceptance of
them, at the very firft folemn oblation after that inftitution,
by a miraculous fire from the divine prefence -, nor had
they any reafon to doubt, but that they were fo indituted,
and ib accepted from the beginning: and therefore there p
wa's lefs reafon for Mofes to expatiate upon a matter, which
had doubtlefs defcended to them in a clear and uninteixupt-
ted tradition.
A grateful fenfe of God's bleffings will, at any time,
engage us to offer him the calves of our lips, (as the
Scripture terms them), or the warmed expreflions of
our praife and thankfgiving ; but what dictate of nature, or
deduction of reafon, could ever have taught us, that, to
tleftroy the bed of our fruits, or the bed of our cattle,
would have been a fervice acceptable to God ? Goodnefs,
and mercy, and lenity, and companion, are the ideas
wc have of that infinite being ; and who would then have
thought, that putting an innocent and inofFeniive crea-
ture to torture, fpilling its blood upon the earth, and
burning its fiefh upon an altar, would have been either
a grateful fight, or an offering qf a five et-fmelling favour to
the Mod High ?
No (b) being, we know, can have a right to the lives
of other creatures, but their creator only, and thofe on
whom he ihall think proper to confer it : but it is evident,
that God, at this time, had not given man a right to the
creatures, even for necefiary food, much lefs for unnecef-
iary cruelty; and therefore to have takm away their lives,
without God's pofitive injunction, would have been an abo-
minable act, and enough to diflecrate ail their oblations.
"When therefore we read, that his acceptance of facrifices
of old was ufually tedified by way of inflammation, or
fetting them on fire, by a ray of light which ifiued from
his glorious prefence, we mud allow, that this was a proof
(f) Outram De facrificiis. (g) Revelation examined.
(/;) Revelation examined.
of
Chap IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 137
of his previous inftitution of them; otherwife we cannot A. M. ia8.
poflibly think, why he fhould fo far concern himfelf about Ant- Chxif.
them, as even to be at the expence of a miracle, to de-Ge*8^'
note his approbation of them. (i) Who hath known the to vtr. is.
mind of the Lord, (is the Apoftle's way of arguing), or whoy
hath been his counfellor ? And, in like manner, without a
divine revelation, it would have been the height of vanity
and prefumption, to have pretended to determine the way
of reconciliation with him, and (without his order and
appointment) to have entered upon a form of worfhip, en-
tirely new and ftrange, by killing of beafls, and burning
their fat. (k) No man (fays another Apoftle) taketh this
honour to himfelf, but he that is called of God, as was
Aaron ; nor can any one lay hold on the promife of for-
givenefs of fins (which is the great deflgn of all facrificing)
any other way than by fymbols of God's own inftitution.
In (/) moil nations indeed, the cuilom of facrificing did
prevail : but that it did not arife from any principle of na-
ture or reafon, is manifeft from hence — ■ — (m) that the
graveft and wifeft of the Heathen philofophers always *
condemned bloody facrifices as impious, and unacceptable
to their Gods ; but this they would not have done, had thev
looked upon them as any branch of natural religion, which
none were more warm in extolling than they. It is no
improbable conjecture, therefore, that other nations might
(/) Rom. si. 34. (k) Heb. v. 4. (/) Heidegger's Hiftor.
patriar. excrcit. r. \?n) Edward's Survey of religion, vol. 1.
* It is die opinion of Tertullian, [Apol. ch. 46.], that none
of the ancient philofophers ever compelled the people to facrificc
living creatines. Theophrailus is quoted by Porphyry in Eufebius,
[Prep. Evang. 1. r. c. 9.], as aiferting, that the nYft men offered
handfuls of grafs; that, in time, they came to facririce the
fruits of the trees ; and, in after ages, to kill 2nd offer cattk
upon altars. Many other authors are cited for this opinion.
Puufanias [De Ceiere Phrygialenfi] feems to intimate, that the
ancient facrifice was only fruits of trees (of the vine efpccial-
ly), and of honey -combs and wool. Empcdocles [De antiquif-
fimis temporibus] affirms, that the firfl altars were not ftaincd
with the blood of creatures ; and Plato [De legibus, 1. 6.] was
of opinion, that living creatures were not anciently offered in
facrifice, but cakes of bread, and fruits, and luney, poured inon,
them; for
Non bove tnatlato cselefiia rrumina gattdcv.t,
was an old pofition of more writers than Ovid. Fids Shqckford's
Connection, vol. 1. 1. %.
take
138 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. rx8. take the rite of facrificing from the Jews, to (;z) which the
Ant. Chrif. devil, in Heathen countries, might inftigate his votaries,
Gen ch Purety to ape God, and imitate his ordinances : or, if this
tover. 2 j. commencement of facrificing among them is thought to be
»— — v—» ^too late, why may not we fuppofe, that they received it by
tradition from their fore-fathers, who had it originally
from Adam, as he had it from God by a particular revela-
tion ? Now, that there was fome warrant and precept of
God for it, feems to be intimated by the author to the
Hebrews, when he tells us, that (o) by faith Abel offered
unto God a more acceptable facrifice, than Cain : for (p) if
faith ccmeth by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God, faith is founded on fome word, and relieth on di-
vine command or promife ; and therefore, when Abel of-
fered the beft of his flock in facrifice, he did what was in-
joined him by God, and his practice was founded upon a
divine command, which was given to Adam, and his
fons, though Mofes, in his fhort account of things, makes
no mention of it,
In line, if it appears from hiftory, that facrifices have
been ufed all over the world, have fpread as far, as uni-
verfally among men, as the very notions of a Deity ; if we
find them almoft as early in the world as mankind upon
the earth, and, at the fame time, cannot perceive that
mankind ever could, by the light of reafon, invent fuch
notions of a Deity, as might induce them to think, that
this way of worfhip would be an acceptable fervice to
him ; if mankind indeed could have no right to the lives
of the brute-creation, without the conceffion of God ;
and yet it is evident, that they exercifed fuch right, and
God approved of their proceeding, by vifible indications of
his accepting the facrifices ; then muit we necefiarily fup-
pofe, that facrifices were of his own inftitution at firft ;
and that they were inftituted for purpofes well becoming
his infinite wifdom and goodnefs.
The ends For we muft remember, that Adam and Eve were, at
and defigns this time, become llnners, and though received into mercy,
ef God's m- jn conftant danger of relapfing; that by their tranfgref-
hem. fion, they had forfeited their lives, but as yet could have
no adequate fenfe, either of the nature of the punilhment,
or the heinoufnefs of the fin which procured it ; and that
now they were to beget children, who were fure to inhe-
(;;) Heidegger's Hiftor. patriar. exercit. 8. (o) Heb. xi. 4.
{p) Rom. x. 17.
rit
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 139
rit their parents corruption and infirmity. Since man, a.m. u*.
therefore, had forfeited his life by his tranfgreffions, and Ant. Chrif.
God, notwithstanding, decreed to receive him into mercy, Gen8^
nothing certainly cotdd better become the divine wifdomto ven J5."
and goodnefs, than the eftablifhment of fome inftitution,
which might at once be a monition both of the mercy of
God, and the puniihment due to fin. And becaufe God
forelaw that man would often fin, and fhould often receive
mercy, it was neceffary' that the inftitution fhould be fuch
as might frequently be repeated ; and in fuch repitition,
frequently remind man of his own endlefs demerit, and of
God's infinite goodnefs to him ; to which purpofe the in-
ftitution of facrifices for fin was of excellent ufe and
fervice.
Both from the commandment which at firft was
given to Adam, and the fentence which was afterwards
denounced againft him, we learn, that death was the pe-
nalty of his difobedience ; and fince it was fo, certainly it
was highly proper, that he fhould know what he was to
fufFer ; and confequently, that he fhould fee death in all
its horror and deformity, in order to judge rightly of the
evil of difobedience. And what could exhibit this evil
more ftrongly, than the groans and ftruggles of innocent
creatures, bleeding to death for his guilt, before his eyes,
and by his own hands ? Sights of this kind are fhocking to
human nature even yet, though cuftom hath long made
them familiar : with what horror then, may we imagine
that they pierced the hearts of our firft parents, and how
was that horror aggravated, when they coniidered them-
felves as the guilty authors of fo much cruelty to the crea-
tures which were about them ? Nay, when the groans of
thefe dying animals were over, what a fad, a ghaftly fpec-
tacle muft their cold carcafTes yield ? and even after their
oblation, how difmal a meditation muft it be, to coniider
the beauty and excellency of thefe animate beings reduced
to an handful of duft ; efpecially, when they could not
fee them in that condition, but under fad conviction, that
they themfelves muft follow the fame odious fteps to de-
ftruclion ?
We can hardly conceive, how God could ftrike the hu-
man foul with a deeper fenfe of mifery from guilt, or with
more abhorrence of the fad caufe of that mifery, than by
this method of appointing facrifices : nor can we imagine
how our firft parents could have ever fuftained themfelves
under fuch afflidling thoughts, had not God, in his infinite
goodnefs,
1 40 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. ii8.goodnefs, caufed fome ray of hope to ihine through this
Ant. Chrif. fcene of mortality and mifery, and made facrifices (at the
G-n di ^ame time fhat tliey were fuch lively emblems of the horror
tover. zs. of guilt) the means of its expiation, and the feais of his
t*—-\~mmj covenant of grace.
(q) That God entered into a covenant of mercy with
man, immediately after the fall, is evident from the len-
ience panned upon the ferpent, wherein that covenant is
comprifed : and therefore, as we find that, in after-ages,
his ufual way of ratifying covenants of this kind was by
facrifices ; fo we cannot imagine that he failed to do fo at
this time, when fuch mercy was more wanted than ever
it was fince the foundation of the world. Sacrifices indeed
have no natural aptitude to expiate guilt , in which fenfe,
the apoftle affirms it (r) to be impofiible for the blood of'
bulls, and of goats, to take away fins. The death of a
beaft is far from being equivalent to the death of a man,
but infinitely fhort of that eternal death to which the man's
finfulnefs. does confign him : but flill, as facrifices are fede-
ral rites, and one of thofe external means which God
had inftitutcd, under the antediluvian difpenfation, for
man's recovery from fin, we cannot but fuppofe, but that,
when pioufly and devoutly offered, they were accepted by
him, for the expiation of tranfgrellions ; though it mull be
owned, that they did not, of themfelves, or by their own
worthinefs, atone for any thing, but only in virtue of the
expiatory facrifice of the Mcffias to come, whereof they
were no more than types and ihadows. To fpeak ftric~tly
and properly, therefore, thefe facrifices did not really and
formally, but typically and myftically expiate, /'. c. they did
not pacify God's anger, and latisfy his juftice, and take a-
way tin, by their own force and efficacy, but as they were
figures and reprefentations of that univerfal facrifice, which
(in the. divine intention) ivas flainfrom the foundation of the
•world, and, in thefulnefs cf time, was to come down from
heaven, in order to fulfil the .great undertaking of making
atonement for the fins of all mankind.
The means Thus to reprefent the horrid nature of fin, and to feal
ef making the eternal covenant of mercy; to be types of the great
v*3111™- expiatory facrifice of Chrifl's death, and a {landing means of
God. obtaining pardon and reconciliation with God, feems to be
fome of the principal ends of God's inllituting facrifices at
firft : and what was of ufe to gain them a favourable ac-
ceptance in his fight, we may, in fome meafure, learn from
(?) Revelation examined (>•) Heb. x. 4.
the
Chap. IV. from the Creation to the Flood. 141
the reafons, that are ufually alkdged, for his rejection of A. M. iz8.
Cain's, and approbation of Abel's facrifice. ^ntg cllllf-
Moll; o£ the Jevviih interpreters have placed the differ- CJX 7ch'
ent events of thefe two faerinces in the external quantity to vtr. 15.
or quality of them. They tell us, that Cain brought ofK
the fruits of the ground indeed, but not of the ftrjl fruits
(as he ihould have done), nor the fullefc ears of corn, (which
he kept for himfelf), but the lankeit and lateft; and, even
what he brought, 'twas with a niggardly hand and grudging
mind; fo that he railed God's averiion (j) by offering to him
rfthat -which coft him nothing : Whereas Abel found a kind
acceptance, becaufe (t) he honoured the Lord with his fub-
fiance : He brought of the firfllings of his flock, and the
very beft and fatteit of them, as thinking nothing too good
to be offered in devotion and gratitude to him from -whom
he received all.
(u) Allowing the maxim of the Jewifh church, viz.
that "without blood there is no remijfion, to have been good,
from the firlt institution of facrifice, a very learned writer
fuppofes, that Abel came, as a petitioner for grace and par-
don, and brought the atonement appointed for fin ; but
Cain appeared before God as a juft perfon, wanting no re-
pentance, and brought an offering in acknowledgment of
God's goodnefs and bounty, but no atonement in acknow-
ledgment of his own wretchednefs ; and that upon this ac-
count his oblation was rejected, as God's expoltulation with
him feems to imply : If thou dofl well, Jhalt thou not be ac-
cepted ? And if thou dofl not -well, fin licth at thy doof, i. e.
if thou art righteous, thy righteouihefs fhall fave thee ; but
if thou art not, by what expiation is thy fin purged ? it
licth dill at thy door.
The author to the (x) Hebrews has given us, 1 think,
a key to this difficulty, when he tells us, that by faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent facrifice than Cain (j)>Tho
faith (of which the Apoftle gives us feveral instances in thio
chapter) is the belief of fomething declared, and, in confe-
quence of fuch belief, the performance of fome action enjoined
by God : By faith Noah, being warned by God, prepared an
ark, i. e. he believed the warning which God gave him,
and obediently made the ark which he had appointed him
to make : By faith Abraham, when calledto go into a ftt"arig6
(/) 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. (/•) Prov. iii. 9. (u) Biihop Sherlock's
Ufe of prophecy, dif. ;. (x) Chap, su. v«r. 4. (y) Shuck-
ford's Connect, vol. t. 1. 2.
Vol. I. K k )anj,
142 The Hiffory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. i» 8. land, which God promt fed to give him for an inheritance,
Ant 3 s obeyed, i, e. he believed that God would give him what he
Gen. ch. 4. had promifed, and, in confequence of fuch belief, did what
to vet. ij. God commanded him : And thus it was, that Abel, by
J faith, offered a better facrifice than Cain, becaufe he
believed what God had promifed, that the feed of the •wo-
man fhould bruife the ferpenfs headf and, in confequence
or fuch belief,, offered fuch a facrifice for his fins, as God
had appointed to be offered, until the feed fhould come.
(z) In order to offer a facrifice by faith then, there are
three things requifite. iff, That the perfon who offers
fhould do it upon the previous appointment and direction
of God. 2dly, That- he fhould confider it as a fign and
token of the promife of God made in Chi ift, and of re-
miffion of fins through his blood ; and 3dly, That, while he
is offering, he fhould be mindful withal (in the phrafe of
St Paul) to prefent bimfelf a living facrifice, holy, and ac-
ceptable unto God. In the firft of thefe qualifications Cain
was right enough, becaufe he had learned from his father,
that, as God had appointed facrifices, it was his duty to of-
fer them : But herein was his great defeat, that while he was
offering, he gave no attention to what he was about ; nor
once reflected on the promife of God, made in paradife, nor
placed any confidence in the merits of a Saviour, to recom-
mend his fervices ; but, vainly imagining that his bare ob-
lation was all that was required to his juftification, he took
no care to preferve his foul pure and unpolluted, or to con-
ttitute his members as injlruments of right eonfnefs vnts
God. In fhort, his oblation was the fervice of an hypo-
crite, lying unto God, and ufing the external fymbols of
grace for a cloak of malieioufnefs ; whereas, Abel's facri-
fice was attended with awful meditations on that feed of the
woman which was to become the world's redeemer, with
warm applications to him for mercy and forgivenefs, and
with holy refoiutions of better obedience, of abandoning
all fin, and always abounding in the ivcrk of the Lord ;
and therefore there is no wonder, that their fervices met
with lo different a reception. For, however facrificing was
an external rite, yet the opus operatum would by no means
do. Unlefs the attention of the mind, and the integrity of
the heart went along with it, (a) he that killed an ox
was as if he few a man ; and he that facrificed a lamb,
as if he cut off a dog's neck ; fo deteftable in the fight of
(z) KeiJegger's Hirt. patriar. exercit. 5. {a) Ifa. lxvi. 3.
" Cod
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 143
God was * the richeft oblation, when the facrificer was not A- M. i*8.
a good man; nay, ib ready was he to pafs by all obfervan- n^'3^6m '
ces of this kind, if the worfhipper came but, in other Gen. ch. 4.
refpects, qualified: (h) For he that keepeth the law bring- "> ver- zs-
eth offerings enough ; he that taketh heed to the law ojfer-
eth a peace-offering ; he that requiteth a good turn of-
fereth fine flour ; and he that giveth alms facrificeth
praife. To depart from wickednefs is a thing pleafing to
the Lord; and to forfake unrighteoufnefs is a propitiation.
* That it is not the quality of the facriflce, but the mind and
difpofition of the facrificer, which God regards, was the general
fentimeht of the wifeft Heathens, as appears by that excellent
paffage in Perfius :
Compolitum jus, fafque aninio, fanclofque recefTus
Mentis, et incoctum generofo pe&us honefto,
Haec cedo, ut admoveam tenmlis, et farre litabo.
SAT. 2.
And that other in Seneca :
Non in viclimis, licet optimas fml, auroque prasfulgent, deo-
rum eft honos, fed pia et reef a voluntate venerandum; De feuett.
I. 1. c. 6.
(b) Eccluf. xxxv. r. ire.
CHAP. V.
Of the general Corruption of Mankind.
The History.
GReat * was the grief, no doubt, which our firftA. M. 130.
parents felt upon the lofs of the righteous Abel, Allt chnf-
and the expulfion of their wicked fon Cain; but, to al-Gcn. ch. j.
leviate, in fome meafure, this heavy load of forrow, God and c. to
was pleafed to promife them another fon, whofe fate ihouidver' IJ'
* The Jewifh, and fume Chriftian doctors, fay, that Adam oi- scth!"
and Eve mourned for Abel one hundred years, during which
time they lived feparate, Adam particularly, in a valley near
Hebron, thence named the valley of tears. And the inhabitants of
Ceylon pretend, that the Salt lake, en the mountain of Columbo,
was formed by the tears which Eve Ihed on this occafion. All
£&ion ; Calmtt's DiCiionary.
K -k % be
1 44 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book 1
A Mrh5°: ^3 different, and himfelf a lading comfort and ccnfolation
g • ' to them : And therefore, as foon as Eve was delivered of the
Gen. ch. s. child, file called his name Seth, which flgnifies fubjlitute,
snd 6. to becaufe Gcd had been fo good as to fend him in the room
jf5*lj- _^ of his brother Abel, whom Cain flew. Adam, when he had
A catalogue Seth, was i 30 years old : He lived after that 800 years,
of Ad.un's and begat feverai other children (though Mofes makes no
pofterity m ITiention of them), So that the II whole of his life was
the hne ot ' '
seth. 93° years.
A. M. *3?. Seth, when he was 105 years old, had a fon named
Enos : After which time he lived 807 years; fa that the
whole of his life was 912.
A.M. 3:5- Enos, when 90, had a fon named Cainan : After which
lie lived 815 years ; in the whole 905.
A.M. 39S- Cainan, when 70, had a fon named Mahalaleel: After
which he lived 840 years; in all 910.
A. M. 4<5o. Mahalaleel, when 6$, had a fon named Jared ; After
which he lived 830 years ; in all 895,
A. M. 6it. Jared, when 162, had a fon named Enoch; After which
lie lived 800 years ; in all 962.
A M. 687. Enoch, when 65, had a fon named Methufelah : After
which he lived 300; in all 365,
|j If it be afked, how it came to pais, that Adam, who was im-
mediately created by God, and, confequently, more perfect than
any of his kind, did not ont-livc Methufelah, who was the eighth
from him ? the anfvver which fome have given, viz. That his
grief and affliction of mind for the lofs of paradife, and the
rnifery which, by his trail fgreffion, be had entailed upon his
offspring, might afFeyt his conftitution, and, by degrees, impair
his ftrength, is not much amifs: But there is another reafon
which feems to me better founded, viz. That, whereas Adam
was created in the full perfection of his jiature, and all his de-
scendants, being born infants, did gradually proceed to maturi-
ty ; fubdu&ing the time from their infancy to their manhood,
we mail find, that Adam out-lived them ail: For we muft not
compute, as we do now, (when the extent of man's life is u-
j'lally no more than 70) that his complete manhood was at 30,
or thereabouts. In the very catalogue now before us, we read
of none (except Enoch, and two others) who begat children be-
Jore they were 90 or upwards ; and therefore, fubtracting thofe
years (which we may fuppofe interfered between his birth and his
fnaqhood) from the age of Methufelah, we may perceive, that
Adam furpaffed him to the number of almofl fixty ; EJJius in dif>
Methufelah,
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 145
Methufeiah, when 187, had a fon named Lamech ;A. M. ij».
After which he lived 782 ; in all 969. j8 *
Lamech, when 182, had a fon named Noah: After Gen. ch. j.
which he lived 595 ; in all 777 : And and «• t°
Noah, when he was 500 years old, had three fons, T^l* 3_ .
Shem, Ham, and Japhet, \ from whom the world, after a^m.~s^.
the deluge, was replenifhed. A.M. 1056,
f This is the genealogy which Mofes gives us of theA-M-'SJ«.
pofterity of Adam, in the line of Seth, until the time of fr0^ b^
the^jj.
f Of tkefe three fons, the eldeft was Japhet, as appears from Gen.
X 21. ; the fecond wa-> Shem, from Gen. x. at. and the youngeft
Ham, from Gen- ix 24. Neverthelefe, both here, and a little
lower, Shem is named firfh ; whether it was, that the rights of
primogeniture were transferred to him (though the facred hiftoriart
fays nothing of it) ; or God was minded, thus early, to (hew,
that he would not he confined to the order of nature, in the dif-
pofal of his favours, which he frequently bellowed upon the
younger children ; or (what I think the moft likely) becaufe the
nation of the Jews were to defcend from him, and he, and his
pofterity, were to be the principal fubject of this whole hiftory ;
Patrick and Le Clerc's Commentary ; and Pool's Annotations.
•j- From this catalogue we may further obferve, that the cuftom
in thofe times was, to give children their names according to
the occurrences in life, or expectations of their parents. Thus
Seth, being a good man, was grieved to fee the great degenera--
cy in other parts, though he endeavoured to preferve his own
family from the contagion ; and therefore called his fon Enos,
which fignifiesyorro'iy/a'/. Enos, perceiving the pofterity of Cain to
grow every day worfe and worfe, was concerned for their ini-
quity, and began to dread the confequences of it ; and therefore
called his fon Caindh, which denotes lamentation. Though
Cainan had his name from the wickednefs of Cain's family, yet
he himfelf was refolved to maintain the true worfliip of God in
his own ; and therefore cailed his fon Mahalaleet, i. e. a praifer
and wcrfl/ipper of Cod. In the days of Mabalaleel (as the tra-
dition tells us) a defection happened among the fons of Seth,
who went down from the mountains where they inhabited, and
adjoined themfelves to the daughters of Cain ; and therefore he
called his fon's name Jared, which fignifks defending. Jared,
to guard againft the general corruption, devoted himfelf and
his defendants, more zealoufly to the fervicc of God ; and,
accordingly, called his fon Enoch, which means a dedication.
Enoch, by the fpirit of prophecy, forefeeing the dcftructiori
which would come upon the earth, immediately after the death
ol his fon; called bis name Methufelah} which imports as much ;
for
x 46 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A- M. 130- the deluge ; but we muft obferve, that thefe are far from
''8 n being all his progeny. In the cafe of our great progenitor
Gen. ch. 5. Adam, he informs us, that after the birth of Seth, (a) he
and 6. to had feveraly&KJ and daughters, though he does not fo much
I3_^ ,as record their names ; and the like we may fuppofe of the
reft of the antediluvian patriarchs. For it is incongruous
to think, that Lamech was 181, and Methulelah 187, be-
fore they ever h*d a child, when it fo plainly appeal's, that
his father Enoch had one at 65. The true reafon then of
this omillion is that the hiftorian never intended to
give us a catalogue of the collateral branches (which doubt-
lefs were many) but only of the principal perfons by whom,
in a right line, the fuccefflon was continued down to
Noah, and thence to Abraham, the founder of the Jewifh
nation.
Yhe divi- Not l^g after the departure of Cain, the whole world
fion of the was divided into two families, or oppofite nations : The
world into famUy 0f Seth, which adhered to the fervice of God, f be-
the families /. .:" ' '
of Cain and . came
Seth.
for the firft part of the word \_Methii\ fignifies he dies, and [Se/ah]
the fending forth of water. Methulelah, perceiving the wicked-
nefs of the world, in the family of Seth, as well as that of Cain,
to grow every day worfe and vvorfe, called his fon Lantech,
which intimates a poor man, humbled, and afflitted with grief,
for the prefent corruption, and fear of future punifliment : And
Lamech conceiving better hopes of his fon (as fome imagine)
that he mould be the promifed feed, the reftorcr of mankind af-
ter the deluge, or a notable improver of the art of agriculture,
called his name Noah, which denotes a comforter ; Bedford 's
Scripture chronology. We may obferve from this catalogue,
however, that the patriarchs, in thofe days, were not fo fuperfli-
tious, as to think any thing ominous in names ; and therefoi e we
find, that Jaied feared nut to call his fon Enoch, by the very
name of Cain's eldeft fon, Gen. iv. 1 7- even as Methufelah called
his fon Lamech, by the name of one of Cain's grand-children,
ch. iv. ver. 18. ; Patrick's Commentary.
{a) Gen. v. 4.
-j- The words in our tranflation are, then, i. e. in the days
of Enos, began men to call upon the na?ne of the Lord, ch. iv. 26. ;
but, it being very probable, that public aflemblies tor religious
offices, were held. long before this time, and that even when
Cain and Abel offered their facrifices, their families joined with
them in the worfhip of God ; fome men of great note, fucli as,
Bertram, Hackfpan, and Heidegger take them in the fame fenfe
with, our marginal tranflation; then began n.en} (i.e. the chil-
dren
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 147
came more frequent in religious offices ; and, as their num- A. M. 130.
ber increafed, met in larger afTemblies, and in communion, Ant. Chrif.
to perform the divine worfhip by way of public litur- Gen8^' s.
gy; and, (/;) for this their piety and zeal, were ftyled theand<s. to
fons orlervants, of Cod, in diftincfion to the family ofver. 13.
Cain, which now became profligate and profane, renoun- '
cing the fervice'of God, and addicting themfelves to all man-
dren of Seth) to call themfelves by the name of the Lord, i. e. the
fervants and worfliippers of the Lord, in contndiftinction to the
Cainites, and fach profane perfons as had forfaken him. It muffc
not be dilfembkd however, that the word Hochal, which wc
tranllate began, in feveral places of Scripture fignifies to profane j
and upon this prefuinption many of the Jewifh writers, and fome
of no oblcure fame among us, have taken the words fo, as if Mo-
fes intended to intimate to us, that men began now to apoftdtize
from the worfhip of God, to fall into idolatry, and to apply the
mod holy name, which alone belongs to the great Creator of hea»
ven and earth, to created beings, and efpecially to the fun._ But,
conlidering that Mofes is here (peaking of the pious family of Seth,
and not of that of Cain ; that when the Hebrew word fignifies to-
profane, it has always a noun following it ; but when an affir-
mative mood follows, (as in the panage before us), it always fig-
nifies to begin; and withal, that the eaftern writers reprefent this
Enos as an excellent governor, who, while he lived, preferved
his family in good order, and, when he died, called them all to-
gether, and gave them a charge to keep all God's commandments,
and not to aflociate themfelves with the children of Cain : conli-
dering all this, I fay, we can hardly fuppofe that Mofes is here-
pointing out the origin of idolatry, but rather the invention of fome
religious rites aDd ceremonies in the external worfhip of God at
this time, or the diftinclion which good men began to put between
themfelves and fuch as were openly wicked and profane. For
that the true meaning of the expreffion Karabe/bem, according to
our marginal tran fiction, is to call or nominate by, or after the
name of any one, is manifeft from feveral inftances in Scripture.
Thus, Gen. iv. 17. Jikra, he called the name of the city Befliem,
by, or after the name of his fon. Numb, xxxii. 42. Jikra, he
called it Nobahbe/be?n, by, or after his own name; and in Pfal.
xlix. 11. Kareau, they call their lands Bifl)?mtham, by, or after
thdr own names : and the name here intimated is afterwards ex-
prefsly given them by Mofes himfelf, Gen. vi. when he tells us,
that the fans of God faw the daughters of men; Patrick's Commen-
tary ; and Calmet's Dictionary on the word Eras ; and Shuckiord -
Connection, vol. 1. 1. 1.
if) Heidegger's Hiftor. patriarch.
»er
death.
148 The Hlftory of the B I B L E, Book I. .
A. M. 130. ner 0f nnpietjr and lafcivioufnefs ; from whence they had
'" l the name of the fons and daughters of men.
Gen. ch. 5. In this period of time, Enoch, one of the family of
and 6. to Seth, and the feventh in a direct line from Adam, a ptr-
T"'-1- ,f°n °f Angular piety and fanctity of life, not only took
Enoch's care °^ n*s own conducl:, * as confidering himfelf always
aanilation. under the eye and obfervation of a righteous God, but,
by his good advices and admonitions, endeavoured like-
wife to put a flop to the torrent of impiety, and reform the
vices of the age ; for which reafon God was pleafed to
£hew a ilgnal token of his kindnefs to him ; for he exempt-
ed him from the common fate of mankind, and, without
fuffering death to pafs upon him, tranflated him into the
regions of blifs.
j£a™'S *n tn*s Pei*i°d of time, Adam, who (according to the
fentence denounced againft him at the fall) was to return
to his native dull, * departed this life, and (as the tra-
dition
* This feems to be the natural fenfe of the expreffion of walk-
ing with Cod; and excellent to this purpofe is this panage of Se-
neca, if we take what he tells us of the prefence of God in a
Chriftian fenfe : " Sic certe vivendum, fays he, tanquam in con-
" fpectu vivamus ; lie cogitandum, tanquam aliquis in pectus inti-
*' mum infpicere poffit, et poteft. Quid cnim prodefl ab homine
'* aliquid effe fecretum? nihil Deo claufum eit. Ineft animis
" noftris, et cogitationibus mediis intervenit ;" lib. 1. cp. 83.;
Le Cure's Commentary. But, confidering how ufeful a thing it was
in thefe early ages of the world, for angels to be converfant with.
good men, it may not improperly be laid of Enoch, and of Noah
both, that they walked with God in this fenfe, viz. that they had
oftentimes familiar converfe with thefe melTengers, who might be
lent widi inftruftions from him how they were to behave upon fe-
veral occafions : for this anfwers the traditions of the Heathens,
viz. that in the golden age, their gods had frequent intercourfe
with men :
Ille Deum vitam accipiet, divifque videbit
Permiftos heroas, et ipfe videbitur illis. Virg. eel. 4.
And to the fame purpofe,
Ssepius et fefe mortali oftendere ccetu
Ccelicola:, nondum fpreta pietate, folebaiit. Catul. in Nr/P.
Thet. etPelei.
* Where Adam was buried cannot be collected from Scripture.
St. Jerom [in Matth. xxvii.] feems to approve of the opinion of
thofe who imagine that he was buried at Hebron, ia the cave of
Ivhchpehh, or die double cave, which Abraham, mary ages af-
ter,
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood, 149
dition is) having called his fon Seth, and the other branches A. M. 130,
of his numerous family about him, he gave them ftrict ''
charge, that they fhould always live feparate, and have no Gen. ch. 5.
manner of in tercourfe with the impious family of the mur-and 6. to
therer Cain. ^^L^J
In this period of time, Noah, the great -grandfon ofNoah,
Enoch, and a perfon of equal virtue and piety, was born : birth and
and as it was difcovered to Enoch at the birth of Methufe- name
Iah, that foon after that child's death, the whole race of
mankind mould be deftroyed for their wickednefs ; fo was
it revelled to Limech, at the birth of his fon, (r) that he
and his family fhould be preferved from the common de-
ftruction, and fo become the father of the new world ; and
for this reafon -j- he called him Noah, which iignifies a com-
forter :
ter, bought for a baryiiig-place for himfelf and family, Gen.
xxiii. 3. &c. The oriental Chriftians fay, that when Adam faw
death approaching, he called his fon Seth, and the reft of his fa-
mily to him, and ordered them to embalm his body with myrrh,
frankincenfe, and cafha, and depofk it in a certain cave, on the
top of a mountain, which he had chofen for the repofitory of his
remains, and was thence called the cave of Ali-Konuz, a word
derived from the Arabian Kanaza, which iignifies to lay up pri-
vately And this precaution (as the Jews will have it) was or-
dered by Adam to be taken, left his pofterity mould make his re-
licts the object of idolatry. Several of the primitive fathers be-
lieve, that he died in the place where Jmifalem was afterwards
built, and that he was interred on mount Calvary, in the very
fpot where Chrift was crucified ; but others are of opinion, that
(though he hid not die at Jerufalem) yet Noah, at the time of
the deluge, put his body into the ark, and took care to have it bu-
ried there by Melcnifedec, the (on of Shem, his grandfon- The
Mahometans will have his fcpulchre to have been on a mountain
near Mecca, and the ancient Perlians, in Screndil, or Ceylon :
fo ambitious is every nation to have the father of all mankind re-
ported with them. When Eve, the mother of all living, died,
is no where exprefTcd in Scripture ; but there are fume who ven-
ture to tell us, that ihe outlived her hufDand ten years ; vide the
Univerfal Hijlory ; and Calmefs Difrionary on ihe word Adam.
(<:) Bedford's Scripture-chronology,
■f- The fubftance of Lantech's prophecy, ace >rding to our
tranflation, is this ; He called his fon Noah, faying,
This fame Jhall comfort us, concerning the work and toil of our
hands, becaufe of the ground which the Lord hath curfed ; and the
fenfe of learned men upon it hath been very different. Some
Vol. I. LI arr
, ro The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book I.
Ifc'-M. ltolffritr •' though others imagine, that the name was there-
Ant. Chrif^ore given him becaufe his father, by the fpivit of prophe-
3874-. CVj foreknew, that God, in his days, would remove the
?*a'k "S, ?"curfe of barrennefs from off the face of the earth, and, after
the time of the deluge, reftore it to its original fertility.
After
are of opinion, that there is nothing prophetical in this decla-
ration of Lantech's, and that the only caufe of his rejoicing was,
to lee a ion born, who might in time be alEfUng to him in
the toil of cultivating the ground. But in this there is nothing
particular : in this fenfe Lamech 's words may be applied by eve-
ry father at the birth of every fon ; nor can wc conceive why
a peculiar name ihould be given Noah, if there was no particular
re'afon for it. The Jewilh interpreters generally expound it
thus, He Jh id I nuke our labour in tilling the ground more eafy to us,
in that he thall be the inventor of feveral proper tools and in-
fhuments of hufbandrv, to abate the toil and labour of til-
lage: a>-j fome will tell us, that he therefore received his name,
becaufc he fill invented the art of making wine, a liquor diat
cheats the heart, and makes man forget forruw and trouble.
But the invention of the fit tools for tillage, after that Tubal-
Cain had become lo great an artificer in brafs and filver,
fcenis to belong to one of his defendants, rather than Noah ;
and as Noah was not the firft hulbandman in the world, fo neither
can it be concluded, from his having planted a vineyard, that he
was the fir It vine-drcfUx* /mother opinion, not altogether unlike
this, b, that Lamech, being probably informed by God,
that his fon Noah ihould obtain a grant of the creatures lor
food, Gen. ix. 3. and knowing the labour and inconveniencies
they were then under, rejoiced in forefeeing what cafe and com-
fptt they ihould have, when they had obtained a large limply of
id from the creatures, bt-lides what they could produce frora
the ground by tillage. The refioration of mankind by Noah,
and his Ion's furviving the flood, is' thought by many to anfwer
(:hc con: fort which Lamech promifed himfelf ajid his poiterity :
- but the learned Heidegger, after an examination of all thefe,
fan ther opinions, (ivppofes that Lamech, having in mind the
of God, expected that his f n mould prove the blefled
I, the faviour of the world, who was to biiiifc the fierpem's
head, and, by his atonement, expiate our fins, which are the
ks of oar own hands, and remove the curie winch lay upon
finners. But this, in my opinion, is too forced an expofuk-n.
Lamech, it is certain, in virtue of God's promife, expected a de-
liverance from the curfe of the earth, and fore fa w that that
deliverance would come through his fon: but how came it
through his fon, unkfs it came in his fon's days ? And in what
inftance
Chap V. from the Creadon to the Flood. 151
After the death of Adam, the family of Seth (to fulfil A. M. 5.5'c,
their father's will) removed from the plain where they had ^-nt- CbriG
lived to the mountains over asainft paradife, where Adam ~ 3°7,4'
3 . r , . uen. en. 5,
is laid to have been buried ; and for fome time lived there and c. to
in the fear of God, and in the ftricteffc rules of piety and ver. 13.
virtue. But as the family of Cain daily increafed, they s~~*~v~",J'
came at length to fpread themfelves over all the plain which fce jne/-s ~0p
Seth had lefc, even to the confines of the hiil-country, the Cain-
where he had fixed his abode, and there they * lived in all ues-
kind of riot, luxury, and licentioufnefs.
The noife of their revellings might poiiibly reach the ^ ^vI"f!,°^*'
holy mountain where the Sethites dwelt; whereupon fome 1^%.
of them might be tempted to go down, merely to gratify v~— v-» «*
The defeo
inftance could it appear, unlefs it were in fomething fubfequent to lr'°" .°^tlie
the flood ? And what could that poflibly be, unlefs the removal of
the fberiiity of the earth, and relloring it to its original fhiitfnl-
nefs ? For which reafon we find God, after the ilood, decla-
ring, that he will net again curfe the earth for man's fake; and
foiemnly promihng, that while the earth rei/uiineth, feed time and
harvejl jball not ceafe, Gen. viii. 22. Vid. Heidegger's Hilt.
pairiar. ; Patrick and Le Clerc's Comment try ; Pool's Annota-
tions ; Shuckford's Connection ; and Bilhop Sherlock's Ufe and
intent of prophecy, dilfertation 4.
* Some of the oriental writers have given us a large account of
their manner of living. " As to the poikrity of Cain," fay they,
" the men did violently burn in luit towards the women, and,
" in like manner, the women, without any ihame, committed
u fornication with the men ; fo that they were guilty of all man-
". ner of tilthy crimes with one another, and, meeting together in
" public places for this purpofe, two or three men were concern-
u ed with the ume woman, the ancient women, if poffible, bc-
" ing more luftful tnd bnititli than the young. Nay, . fathers
'* lived promifcaouily with their daughters, and the young men
" with their mothers ; fo tliat neither the children could dillin-
** guiih their own parents, nor the parents know their own cliil-
" dren. So deteftable were the deeds of the Cainites, who fpent
" their days in lull and wantonnefs, in iinging and dancing, and
" all kinds of mufic, until fome of the fo'ns of Seth, hearing the
" noife of their muiic and riotous mirth, agreed to go down 'to
" tliem from the Ii«»ly mountain, and, up.ni their arrival, were fo
" captivated with the beauty of their women, (who were naked),
" that they immediate'-/ defiled themfelves with them, and fo
" were on lone. For when they offered to return again to their
" former abodes, the nones of the mountain became like fire,
*' and permitted them to pais no farther;" Eutyeh.Annais, p. 27.
L I a their
1 5 2 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A.M 1041. their curiofity perhaps at firft, but being taken with their
^^ n ' deluding pleafures, and * intoxicated with the charms of
Gen. ch.' s. their women, (who were extremely beautiful), they forgot
and 6. to the charge which their forefathers had given them, and fo
vcr. 13. took to themfelves wives of the daughters of Cain; from
~^~ which criminal mixture were born men of a vaft gigantic
ftature, who for ibme time infefted the earth : and, in
a few generations after, the whole family of Seth (very
probably after the death of their pious anceftor) followed
the like example, and, forgetting their obligations to the
contrary, entered into fociety with the Cainites, and made
intermarriages with them ; from whence arofe another
race of men, no lefs remarkable for their daring wicked-
nefs than for their bold undertakings and adventurous
actions.
Ttie gene- Evil communications naturally corrupt good manners :
tion ofithe anc* *° t^e examp^e °f trie wicked family prevailed, and,
world. by degrees, eat out all remains of religion in the pofterity
of Seth. Noah indeed, who was a good and pious man,
endeavoured what he could, (e) both by his counfel and
authority, to bring them to a reformation of their man-
ners, and to reftore the true religion among them ; * but
all he could do was to no purpofe. The bent of their
thoughts had taken another turn ; and all their ftudy and
contrivance was, how to gratify their lufts and inordinate
* Our excellent Milton defcribes the manner of their being
captivated with the daughters of Cain in thefe words:
They on the plain
Long had not walk'd, when from the tents, behold,
A bevy of fair women, richly gay, ■
In gems, and wanton drefs : to th' harp they fung
Soft amorous ditties, and in dance came on.
The men, though grave, ty'd them ; and let their eyes
Rove without rein ; 'till in the amorous nc t
Firft caught, they lik'd, and each his liking chefe. Book 1 1.
(e) Jofephus's Antiq. 1. 1. c. 4.
* Jofephus tells us, that Noah, for a long while, oppofed the
growing impiety of the age ; but that at laft, finding himfelf
and family in manifeft danger of fome mortal violence for his
good-will, he departed out of the land himfelf, and all his people;
Jntlq. L 1. c. q. ; and (as the tradition is) he fettled in a coun-
try called Cypariffon, which had its name from the great quantity
of cyprefs-trecs which grew there, and whereof (as we fhall ob-
feivc hereafter) in all probability he built the ark.
' paffions.
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 153
paffions. In one word, the whole race of mankind was A. M. 104*,
become fo very wicked, that one really would have thought t- !? ■*
they had all been confederated together againft heaven, to Gen. ch. ?.
violate God's laws, to profane his worfhip, and fpurn at and <s. to
his authority : fo that his patience and long fullering came ^ei'_1 3'
at length to be wearied out : and though he is not a man,
that he mould repent, or the fon of man, that he lhould
grieve at any thing, yet his concern for the general corrup-
tion is reprefented under that notion, the better to accom-
modate it to our capacity, and to exprefs his fixed refolu-
tion of deftroying all mankind for their iniquity, and with
them all other creatures made for their ufe, || as if he had
repented that ever he made them.
Before
|] As languages were at firft invented by fuch perfons as
were neither philoiophers nor divines, we cannot at all wonder,
that We meet with many improprieties in lpeech, and fuch ac-
tions imputed to Goj. as no ways comport with the dignity of his
nature. Thus, when the Holy Scriptures fpeak of God, they
afcribe hands, and eyes, and feet to him ; not that he has any
of thefe members, according to the literal fignification ; but the
meaning is, that he has a power to execute all tbofe acts, to
the effecting of which, thefe parts in us are inftrumental, i. e.
he can converfe with men, as well as if he had a tongue or
mouth ; can difcern all that we do or fay, as perfectly as if he
had eyes and ears ; and can reach us, as well as if he had
hands or feet, ire- In like manner, the Scripture frequently
reprefents him, as affected with fuch paffions as we perceive
in ourfelvrs, viz as angry and plea fed, loving and hating, re-
penting and grieving, &c ; and yet, upon reflection, wt cannot
fuppofe, that any of thefe paffions can literally affect the divine
nature; and therefore the meaning is, that he will as certain-
ly punilh the wicked, as if he were inflamed with the paffion of
anger againlt them ; as infallibly reward the good, as we will
tbofe for whom we have a particular affection ; and that when
he finds any alteration in his creatures, either for the better
or the worfe, he will as furely change his difpenfations towards
them, as if he really repented, or changed his mind. It is by
way of analogy and companion, therefore, that the nature and
lions of men are afcribed to God : fo that when he is laid to
repent or grieve, the meaning muff be, not that he perceived
any thing that he was ignorant of before, to give him any
uneafinefs, (for knoivn unto him are all his iva)s jrc?nthe be-
ginning), but only that he altered his conduct with regard to
men, as they varied in their behaviour towards him, juftaswfc
arc wont to do when wc are moved by any of thefe paiiions
and
154 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.M. i$3<5. Before he refolved upon their deftru&ion,. however, we
Ant. Chrii. find him in great ftruggle and coniiift with himfelf ; his
1468. juftice calling for vengeance, and his mercy pleading for
and 6. to forbearance; till at length his juftice prevailed, and de-
ver. 13. nounced„ the fentence of condemnation upon the wicked
v— ""y""-' world : but frill with this referve -That if, || within the
fw- S fpace of 1 20 years, (which was the term limited for their
to dcftroy reprival), they ihouli forfake their evil ways, repent, and
it- reform, his mercy fhould be at liberty to interpofe, and
reverfe their doom. All which he communicated to his
fervant Noah, who, for his juftice and lingular piety in that
corrupt and degenerate age, had found favour in his light ;
and for whofe fake his family, which coniift ed of eight per-
fons in all, was to be exempted from the general deftruc-
tion.
The Objection..
" TT5UT how great foever the wickednefs of the ahte-
tionl ° JCC" " -S3 diluvian world might be, yet it comports but badly
" with the goodnefs, and wifdom, and foreknowledge of
" God, to have created the race of mankind, and provi-
" ded fuch a delightful place for their habitation, and then,
and changes of affections, we., who dwell in houfes of clayy
and whofe foundations are in the dujl : for th e v fry Heathens can
tell us, that majejlatis diminutio cjt, et confejjto errcris, tnutanda
facer e • m'cejfe eft enim ei tadem placers, cui. niji optima placere
non pojfunt ; Seneca in Prasf. nat quasft. Vid. Le Gere's Com-
mentary ; Bifhop King on Prcdeftination ; and Ainfworth's An-
notations.
|| This was the term allowed mankind for their repentance,
and prevention of their ruin and yet, if we compare ch. v. 32.
withchj vii.jr. we fhall find, that between this time and the
flood, there were bat rooyeaVs. How then did God perform his
promife? Now, in anfwer to this, it may be faid, that the in-
creafing wickednefs of mankind might juftly haiten their ruin,
and forfeit the benefit of this indulgence; but what I take t> be
the true foiution is this : This promife (though mentioned
- after what we read in ch v. 12 ) terms neverthelefs to have
been made 20 years before it ; for that vcrfe is added there out of
its proper place, only to complete the genealogy ; and therefore,
after this narrative of the wickednefs of the world, it is repeated
here inks due order, in the 10th verfe: nor are fuch tranfpofitians
uncommon in Scripture, without any diminution to its authority;
Pool's Annotations.
Chap . V. from the Creation to the Flood. 155
in fo fhort a compafs of time, to cancel the work of A.M.153V.
his own hands, by deftroying the beauty of the one, and Ant. Chrii".
the lives of the other. For feven generations together Ge^4^h'
(if (f) Jofephus tells truth) men lived in the exercife of and 6. to
virtue, and in the love and tear of God. The family ver. 13.
of Seth were very famous for their holinefs, juitice, and '""— ~v~ —^
purity ; and (as f eaftern writers fay) wfere continually
employing themfelves in the worfhip and praifes of God.
One of them, in particular, was fo remarkable for his
virtue and piety, that he had a privilege granted him,
which the Son of God himfelf (when on earth) could
not obtain, viz. a translation into immortality, witiiout
undergoing the pains of death ; and yet, \x\ a genera-
tion or two following, we read, that (g) All flcjh had
corrupted his way upon the earth, and that every imagi-
nation of his heart was evil continually-, infomuch that
it repented and. grieved the Lord that he had made m m.
Now if God foi §faw that man would fo foon become
fo very wicked, why did he make him at all ? Or, if
forefeeing this, he nevertheless thought proper to-make
him, why was he fo concerned at finding him to be juit
what he forefaw he would prove ? To deftroy the wic-
ked race of Cain indeed, in fome particular branch of it,
for a teftimony of his difpleafure againft the reft, this
might have been confiftent with his wifdom and juitice,
and other facred attributes : but to lay waite the whole
(/) Amiq. 1. 1. c. 4.
f immediately after the death of Ad?m, (fay feveral of thefe
writers), Sttli being wearied with the wickednefs or the family
of Cain, his neighbours, and fearing that now they would become
more profligate, retired from the plain where he lived bero-e,
and taking with him his ekieit fon Enos, and Cainan the fon of
Enos, and Mahalaleel the fon of Cahun, and their wives, brought
them up unto the top of that mountain where Adam was buried ;
that thefe inhabitants of the mountains became very famous for
their holinefs, juitice, and purity ; that they continually employ-
ed themfelves in the praifes of God, and in cultivating their blinds
in iublimc ("peculations ; and that when they were removed to a
greater diffcmce from the earth, they were io very near the ce-
leflial paradife, that, they heard the voices- of angels celebrating the
praifes of God, and joined v itfa them in theii facred hymns and
heavenly beriedi fcons j Bedford's Scripture- chronology.
{g) Gen. vi. 12.
" earth
156 The Hiffory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. is?5-cc earth all at once, and even the brute-creation, which
<58 " " was not caPrt°le °f offending ; to pull down what he had
Gen. ch. j. " for the fpace of 1656 years been eftabliihin-g, and to
and 6. to " put himfelf to the trouble of beginning again, and re-
' peopling the fhattered and defaced earth from the loins
of four progenitors only, argues too much levity and
" caprice, ever to be imputed to a wife and unchangeable
" God.
" The whole hiftory of this period of time indeed
" (according to the account of Mofes) is fo glaringly ro-
" mantic, and fo repugnant to other parts of Scripture,
" that a man who ventures to think for himfelf, will
" hardly be induced to credit it. The Apoftle to the Co-
" rinthians telis us, that (h) fief}) and blood cannot inherit
" the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit in-
" corruption ; and yet (?) here we have a man, who (ao
*\ cording to the Chriftian interpretation) was immediately
" taken up into heaven (but in what vehicle ? there is the
" queftion) without any change or alteration, that we
" read of. Chrift, in his gofpel, has told us exprefsly, that
" (k) the angels of God neither marry, nor are given in
" marriage, and the * fimplicity of their nature muft
" induce us to think, that they are not capable of genera-
" tion ; and yet (/) here again we are told, that the fons
" of God took them/elves wives of the davghters of men.
" But, allowing the fons of Gcd to lignify the defcendants
" of Seth, yet where was the great damage in their mar-
" rying the daughters of Cain ? We read of no law to
" prohibit fuch marriages, and where no law is, there can
<e be no tranfgrejfwn ; and yet the deftruclion of thenvorld
" is reprefented as proceeding from this one caule. The
" poets indeed do frequently entertain us with many plea-
" lant ftories of their gods turning gallants to ladies, of
',* their affuming human fiiape, living in obfeurity for fome
" time, and fubmitting to employs far beneath their qua-
M lity, and all for the love of the fair fex; but, in a
(h) 1 Cor. xv. jo. (/) Gen. v. 24. (k) Matth. xxii. ;o.
* The learned Heidegger, in his Diflerfation De Nephilha,feu
gtgantibus antediluviams, has abundantly (hewn from Scripture,
i'rom reafon, and from the nature of angels, that neither limply
by themfelves, nor incorporate in any human body, are they ca-
pable of begetting children ; nor could it have been conliftent
with the attributes of God, for him (0 have permitted any fuch a-
bomination.
(I) Gen. vi. 2.
V ; «' book
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 157
book of divine extract and (acred truth, we little expe£t- a.m. is-6.
ed to be told of amorous intrigues. The giants of old, Ant- ChriE
of what -monftrous lize and ftrength they were, how i4<5®/
they fought againft the gods, and piled f mountain up- zn^6. to •
on mountain, in order to fcale heaven, and dethrone ver. 13.
them, is a popular fubjeft among the fons of ParnaiTus ; <— — v— — >
bat who ever thought to have met (ra) with the foun-
dation of all thefe fictions in fo grave an author as Mot
fes ? In fhort, his whole account of the tranfhuion of
Enoch, and the deluge of Noah ; of the fons of God,
and the daughters of men ; of giants and incubufes,
and other fuch monftrous abfurdities, favour very ftrong
of the fabjiious age, and feem to be calculated for no
other purpofe than merely to banter the eafy faith of the
vulgar, and to gratify fuch as delight in fiction."
That God of his infinite wifdom might, for very good Anfwered,
reafons, think proper to create man at firft, and in au the f£ fl*fwin?
full perfection of his nature, notwithftanding he could not antediluvi-
an world
came to be
\ The poets have defcribed the attempt of the ancient giants ° WiL
in fuch ftrains as thefe :
Neve foret terris fecurior arduus aether,
AfFecTiue ferunt regnum ccclefte gigantes,
Altaque congeftos ftruxiiTe ad fydera montes. Ovid. Met. I. 1.
Immania vidi
Corpora, qui manibus magnum refcinderc ccelum
AgreiTi, fuperifque Jovem detrudere regnis.
Ter funt conati imponere Pelio Ollam
Scilicet ; atque Ofiae frondolum involvere Olympum ;
Ter pater extruttos disjecit fulmine montes. Firg. JEn. 6.
et Ceor. 1.
Magnum ilia terrorem, intulerat Jovi
Fidens inventus horrida brachiis,
Fratrefque tendentes opaco
Pelion impofuiile Olympo.
Sed quid Typhccus, quid validus Mimas,
Aut quid minaci Porphyrion flaw,
Quid Rhcecus, cvulfifque truncis
Enceladus jaculator audax,
Contra fonantem Palladis .^gida
Poilcnt ruentes ? Hor.Car. /. 3. ode 4.
(nt) Gen. vi. 4.
Vol,. I. Mm but
158 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I,
A.M. is i6. but forefee, that he would fadly degenerate, and turn rebel
» as"'* to *"s w^> 1S a q11^011 we have already endeavoured to
Gs/i. ch. 5. refolve, (n) when we treated of the fall of Adam; and by
^nd c. to what means his pofterity, in the fucceffion of fo few ge-
I3- nerations, as pailed from the creation to the flood, be-
came lo very corrupt, as to lay God under a neceffity to
deftroy them, may in a great meafure be imputed to the
length of their lives, and the ftrength and vigour of their
conilirutions. For, fuppoiing all mankind, iince the ori-
ginal defection, to be born in a ftate of depraved nature,
with their underftandings impaired, their wills perverted,
and their paiiions inflamed (0) ; we can fcarce imagine any
reftraint, confident with human freedom, fufficient to
check their unruly appetites in that height of vigour, and
confidence of long life. For if we, who rarely, and with
no (mall difficulty, flretch out to the fpan of feventy years,
are hardly v/ith-held from violence and villainy by all the
dictates of reafon and terrors of religion, what can we
conceive fufricient to have kept them back, in their ftrength,
and fecurity in fin from a continued feries of 8 or 9 hun-
dred years ? No interpofition of providence can be fup-
pofed available to the reformation of mankind under thefe
circumftances, ynlefs It were fuch as would either change
their nature, or deftroy their freedom ; and therefore we
have reafon to believe, that in the fpace of about 1 800
years from the creation, God found them degenerated to
fuch a degree, as if they had loft all fenfe of their huma-
nity ; for this fome have made the import of the text, my
fpirit Jhall not always Jirive -with man, for that he alfo is
feflj, i. e. it is in vain to ufe any farther methods of mer-
cy, or monitions of providence with man, who is now en-
tirely given up to flefhly appetites, and by that means funk
down into the loweft condition of brutality.
By what gradations man arrived at his height of cor-
ruption, is not fo evident from Scripture ; but there are
two pafTages, (p) the earth was corrupt before God, and the
earth -was filled -with violence; which feem to point out
fome particular vices : for by violence is plainly meant
cruelty, and outrage, and injuftice of every kind ; and by
corruption, the Jews always underftand, either idolatry,
or unlawful mixtures and pollutions ; the latter of which
leems to be denoted here, becaufe of the fubfequent expli-
(n) Vid. pag. 87, 88. (0) Revelation examined, vol. 1.
It) Gen. vi. 11. ■* **'
v ' ' ' cation;
Chip. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 159
cation of I
the earth.
cation of the words, for all fleft had corrupted his ivay upon *• M- rn<5-
Ant. CI. rift.
1453.
Now, if we look into the hhlory, we fhall find, that Geri. ch. s
the firft a£t of violence was committed by Cain upon hisand <*■ h>
brother Abel ; the firft adl of incontinence by Lamech, inve''
the matter of his polygamy ; and that as one of his fons
invented the instruments of luxury, fo the other invented
the inftruments of violence and war. As luxury there-
fore naturally begets a difpofition to injure others in their
property, and fuch a difpofition, armed with offenfive wea-
pons, in the hands of men of a gigantic Mature and
ftrength, (as many of the antediluvians very probably
Were), tends to beget all manner of infolence and outrage
to our fellow-creatures '; fo thefe two cardinal vices
might naturally enough introduce that train of corruption
Which drew God's judgments upon the inhabitants of the
earth.
Had God indeed given them no intimations of this his God's jy-
defign, no calls to repentance, no means and opportuni- c^ v.m^!"
ties of becoming better, before he determined their deftnifl* ftr0y;ng ajj
tion, fomething might then be faid in oppoiition to fke. mankind" j
righteoufhefs of this procedure ; but (q) fince, from the
very beginning, he was pleafed, in the fentence he paiTed
upon the ferpent, to give them a remarkable prOmife, that
the feed of the woman fhould deftroy the power of that
evil fpirit which brought fin into the world, and confe-
quently, (r) that all parents were obliged to train up their
children in the ways of virtue and religion, without which
it was impoffible for any of them to be, the promifed feed,
which was to reftore mankind to their original perfections ;
fince he himfelf inftituted facrifices, as a means admirably
well fitted to infpire mankind with an horror of guilt,
and be at the fame time a perpetual memorial of the
divine mercy from generation to generation ; fince, in his
expulfion of Cain from his- prcfence, and exaltation of
Enoch into heaven, he made an open declaration to all
future ages, that his vengeance fhould at all times purfue
fin, but his bounty had always in ftore an ample reward
for the righteous ; fince at this time he exhibited him-
felf to mankind in a more fenfible manner than he docs
now, caufing them to hear voices, and to dream dreams,
and, by fundry extraordinary means, convincing them of
(q) Shuckford'a Connect, vol. 1. 1. 1. (?) Revelation ex-
amined; YOl. 1,
Mm? their
1 60 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Eook I.
A.M. 15 36. their duty, and giving ihem directions for the conduct of
n268lr" their lives ; fince, at this time, they had the principles of
Gen. ch. 5. religion (which were but very few) conveyed to them by
and 6. to an eafy tradition, which, by Methufelah's living 248 years*
^*3' .with. Adam, and dying but a lkde before the flood, in the
• compafs of 1600 years and more, had but two hands to
pafs through : and, laftly, fince God appointed Noah* in
particular to be a preacher of right eoiifnefs (s), as the
ApdftTe. ftyles him, to exhort that wicked race to forfake
their fins, and return unto him ; to warn them of their im-
pending doom, if they perfifted in their provocations ; to
give them notice, that 120 years was the Hated time of
their reprieve, and that, at the end of that period, his
fixed determination was to deftroy them utterly, unlefs
their amendment averted the judgment : Since thefe and
many more methods of mercy were all along employed by
God (and efpecially in the days that his long-fufFering
waited, while the ark was preparing) for the recovery of
mankind, before the deluge came upon them, they are fuf-
fkient to vindicate the ways of God with man, and to
juftify his fe verity in bringing in the flood upon the world
of the ungodly, which neither his reftraints nor rewards,
nor all the monitions and exhortations of his prophets, add-
ed to his own declarations, inftitutions, inflictions, and de-
nunciations of vengeance, could reclaim, in the courfe of
fo many centuries,
and other Other living creatures, it is true, were not culpable in
Jiving crca-this manner : They all anfwered the ends of their produc-
tures. tion, and man was the only rebel againft his maker, (t)
But as, in an univerfal deluge, it was impoffible to pre-
ferve them alive without a miracle ; fo, having, in fomc
meafure, been made inftrumental to man's wickednefs, in-
nocent though they were, they were all to be deftroyed, in
order to evince the malignity of fin, and God's abhorrence
of it. For the great end of his providence in fending the
deluge was not lb much to eafe himfelf of his adverfaries,
as to leave a perpetual monument of his unrelenting feve-
rity, that thereby he might deter future ages from the like
provocations. And this is the inference which the Apoftle
draws from all his judgments of old : (u) If God /pared not
the angels, fays he, that finned t but caji them down to
Hell; if he fared not the old ivorld, but brought in a food
(s) 2 Pet, ii. 5. (f) Le Clerc's Commentary. [u) 2 Per.
u. 4. &c,
upon
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 161
vpon the ungodly ; if he turned the cities of Sodom and £o-A.M. ijjtf.
morrha into ajhes, and condemned them ivith an overthrow ; ' g
thefe are an enfample unto thofe, that after jhall live un- Gen. ch. j.
godly ; for (however they may efcape in this life) he hath*nd6- l»
referved the unjujl unto t he-day of judgment to he punijhed. \^JL^
The Scripture indeed feems to impute all this iniquity -pheionsqf
to the marriages between the fons of God and the daugh- God not
ters of men; but the misfortune is, that feveral interpre-evllaD£els5
ters, being led away by the authority of the L}£X\ who
(according to Philo) did anciently render what we ftyle the
fons of God, by ayytKot t« 0*3, have fuppofed, that wicked
and apoftate angels affirmed, at this time, human bodies,
and, having had carnal communication with women, be- .
gat of them a race of giints ; and from this original, the
notion of incubi, or devils converting with women in
the like manner, has ever fince been derived. St Auftin,
f among many Others, is very pofitive in this opinion, (x)
*' Several people have had the trial," fays he, " and feveral
" have heard it from thofe who knew it to be true, that
" the filvani and fauni, commonly called incubi, have
" been often fatal to women, and have defiled their bed.
" It is likewife affirmed with fo much confidence, that
" certain demons (called durii among the Gauls) have not
?* only attempted, but likewife perpetrated thefe kinds of
" impure actions, that it would be foolilh to make any
" queftion of it." But befides the incompatiblenefs of
the notion of a fpirit, and the nature of an incubus, the
fons of God are here represented under circumftances quite
different to what we may fuppofe of any demons affuming
human fhape.
{y) An incubus (if any fuch there be) can defire com-
merce with a woman, for no other reafon, but only to
•J- Dr Whitby, in his Scripturas patrnm, p. 5. has inftanced in
almoft all the fathers of the four firffc centuries, who were of
this opinion ; fuch as Juftin Martyr, Irenseus, Athen igoras, Cle-
mens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, St Cyprian, Lac"tanthis; Eufebius,
ire. and fuppofes that this notion took its rife from the vaia
traditions of the Jews; becaufc we find not only Philo reading
the word «yyt\ot in the Septuagint veifion, but Tofephus like-
wife afferting, " that the angels of God mixing with women,
" begat an infolent race (riot much unlike that of the giants
" in the Greek fables) overbearing right with power;" A-:tiq.
I. I. c. 4.
(v) Dc ciyitate Dei, 1. 15. c. 33, (j) Heidegger's Hift.
UJriar. .. '. .
draw '
1 62 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book %
A.M. i j b«S. draw her into the gulf of perdition. Any carnal gratifi-
Ant eg cation of his own cannot be his motive, becaufe pleafure,
<?en* ch. 5. in an aflumed body, if it is pretended to, muft be fictitious :
and 6. to But here the Jons of God are faid to be enamoured with the
ver- x3- daughters of men, and (to fatisfy their .lufts) to take i«
~ w~ themfelves wives of all that they chofe, which denoting a
fettled marriage and cohabitation with them, can hardly be
imagined in the cafe before us. From thofe marriages we
may farther obferve, that a generation of living men, called
by the Scripture men of renown, did enfue ; but it is im*
pious to think, that God would ever concur with the de-
vil, violating the laws of generation which he had efta-
blifhed, and proftituting the dignity of human nature, by
ftamping his own image upon, or infufing an human foul
into whatever matter a fiend ihould think fit to engene-'
rate. .
great ^n PreJucuce taken to this opinion, therefore, feveral in-
ihen and terpreters have made choice of another, which, though
"saagiflrates; fomewhat more reafonable, is neverthelefs fubjecl: to ex-
ceptions. It fuppofes, that, by the fans of God in this
place, are meant the princes, great men, and magiftrates
in thofe times, who, inftead of ufing their authority to
punifh and difcountenance vice, were themfelves the great-
eft examples and promoters of lewdnefs and debauchery ;
taking the daughters of men, or of the inferior and mean-
er fort of the people, and debauching them by force. But
(z) befides the harfhnefs of the conftruction, which (con-
trary to Scripture-phrafe) makes all great and powerful per-
fons to be called the fans of God, and all mean and plebeian
women the daughters of men, there is this error in the
fuppofition, that the great men we are now fpeaking of,
did not offer any force or violence to thefe inferior wo-
men ; they faw that they were fair, and made choice of
them for wives. They did not take them merely to lie
with them, and fo difmifs them ; but voluntarily entered in-
to a ftate of matrimony and cohabitation with them. And
this being all the matter wherein is the heinoufnefs of the
offence, if men of a fuperior rank many with their infe-
riors, efpecially when an excefs of beauty apologizes for
their choice ? Or, why mould a few unequal matches be
reckoned among fome of the chief caufes which brought
upon the world an univerfal deftruction ?
But the .dc- The moft common, therefore, and indeed the only pro-
fcendants bsble opinion is, that the fons of God were the deicend-
*fSe*', ' dant*
(2) Ibid
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 1 63
dants of Seth, who, for the great piety wherein they con- A.M. 153 e.
tinued for ibme time, were fo called, and that the daugh-^1- chnU
ters of men were the progeny of wicked Cain: And why Ge*4ch'
the intermarriages of thefe two families (even though there and <s. to
was no exprefs prohibition from God) came to be fo pro-vcr- f3*
voicing to him, and in the end fo deftru&ive to themfelves, v"*-^*-^
is the next point of our inquiry.
It has been a queftion among the learned, whether or The idola-
no, in the ages before the flood, idolatry was praclifed ? 'rX ?f ^
but there feems to be no great foundation for our doubt-
ing it, though ibme have endeavoured to eftablifh it upon
incompetent texts. The only expreffion in Scripture that
bears a proper afpect this way is in Gen. vi. 5. where wc
are told, That God faw, that the wickednefs of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The words
feem parallel to that paflage of the Apoftle, (a) they became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolifl) heart was •
darkened; whereupon it follows, that they changed the
glory of the incorruptible God into an image, made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beafts, and
creeping things. Since therefore Mofes makes ufe of (b)
the like expreffion concerning the age foon after the
flood ; and, fince it is certain that, foon after the flood,
men fell into idolatry, until the true worfhip of God was
again eftablifhed in Abraham's family, it feems very pro-
bable that he intended us an intimation hereof in the man-
ner of his expreffing himfelf: Nor can we imagine but
that, when St Peter compares the falfe teachers of his age f
with the people of the antediluvian world, in the nature
of their punifhment, he means to inform us, that they re-
sembled them likewhe in the nature of their crime, in theic
(c) bringing in damnable hcrefies, and abetting fuch doc-
trines, us even denied the Lord that bought them; or that,
when St Jude (d) exprefTes his indignation againft certain
ungodly men in his days, who denied the only Lord God9
and our Lord Jefus Chrifl, in fuch words as thefe, Woe
vnto them, for they are gone into the way of Cain ; he leaves
11s t® infer, that Cain and his pofterity were the firft that
threw off the fenfe of a God, and, initead of the creator,
began to worfhip the creature.
^ Now if the Cainites were, at this time, not only pro-
fligate in their manners, but abettors of infidelity, and
(a) Rom. i. 21. 23. {b) Gen. viii. 21. (c) 2 Pet. ii.
j, 5, (J) Vcr. 4. iio
promoters
164 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.M. is 36 -promoters of idolatry; for the family of Seth, who pro-.,
i 68U '&&& the true worfhip of God, to enter into communion,
Gen. ch. j. or any matrimonial compacts with them, could not but
and 6. to prove of fatal confequence. 'Tis a folemn injunction which
7er'J lL 1 ^°d gives the Ilraelites, againft all idolatrous nations, (e)
Thou fialt not make marriages 'with them • thy daughter
thou foalt not give unto his Jon, nor his daughter /halt thtu
take unto thy fon : And, that this is no fpecial but a ge-
neral prohibition, exteniive to all nations that profefs the
true worfhip of God, is evident from the reafon that is
annexed to it ; for they will turn away thy fon from follozvr
ing me, that they may ferve other gods. This was what
Balaam knew full well, and therefore, perceiving that he
could injure the children of Ifrael no other way, he adf
vifed the Moabites to commence a familiarity with them ;
whereupon it foon came to pafs, that (/) The people began
to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they
called the people unto the facrifices of their gods, and the
■people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
'Twas this danger of fedudtion into a ftate of idolatry
that made Abraham, before the law, fo very anxious and
uneafy, left his fon Ifaac fhould marry a Canaanitifh wot
man ; and though we, under the gofpel, (g) know very
well, that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is
none other God but one, yet we are admonifhed by the
fame Apoftle, who teaches us this, Not to be unequally yoked
together with unbelievers ; for what fellowfoip, fays he,
has righteoufnefs with unrighteoufnefs, what communion
hath light with darknefs, or what part hath he that ber
lieveth with an infidel (h) ? From all which it feems to
follow, that the fin was very heinous in the family of Seth,
■to mix with the wicked feed of Cain, when they could
not but forefee, that the confequence would be their fe-
dudtion from the true worfhip of God ; and that the hei-
noufnefs of their fin feems ftill to be inhanced, if, what fome
oriental writers tell us be true, viz. that God gave them
this prohibition by the mouth of their great forefather
Adam, and that their cuftom was, at certain times, to
fwear by the blood of Abel (which was then folemn oath)
that they would never leave the mountainous country
where they inhabited, nor have any communion with the
defcendants of Cain.
(e) Deut. vii. 3. 4. (/) Num. xxv. I. 2. (g) 1 Cor.
yiii. 4. (/>) 2 Cor. vi. 14. ixc.
How
Chap. V. fro'ii th.2 Creation to the Flood. 165
How the connitture of two fuch different families \.Vi.i-,,s.
cams to prod-ace 1 fat of giant's is not fo eafy a matter t> An'- CW.
determine. Thofe who pretertd to reduce it to natural GaZ4
caufes, or the eager luffc and impetus of their parents, an! c. to
are va'tly miftaken, (z) beeaule giants there were among to ver 13.
the C unites, before this conjunction, and we rei.l of feve- *""""" V"*"^
ral in other nations many a^-s after the flood. Tne more „ruf„s"in"s
probable opinion therefore is, (k) that God permitted it in they
venge mce to their parents crimes, and that the children typing,
begotten by fuch unlawful mixtures might, (fome of them
at leaft), be accounted monftrous iri their kind, (for thus
the word N'ephilim certainly lignifies), and lb become the
abhorrence of all future generations.
It mult be acknowledged, indeed, that tranflators have
not agreed in their notions of this word. Aquila, inftead
of gigxntes, renders it (/) men who attack, or fall with
impetuolity upon their enemies ; and Symmachus will have
it mean (m) violent and cruel men, the only rule of whole
actions is their ftrength and force of arms : And from
hence fome have imagined, that the giants fpoken of in
Scripture were famous for the crimes and violences they
commited rather than for the height or largenefs of
their ltature. But to hinder this from paffing for a truth,
we have the hiftories of all ages, both lacred and profane,
and feveral other remains and monuments, to evince f the
being of fuch prodigious creatures in almoft every coun-
try.
(«). That there were multitudes of giants in the land The 1-eil
of promife, before the Ifraelites took polleffion of it, fuch ^^encc; of
as Og King of Bafan, and the Anakims, whom (0) the
Moabites called Enims, i. e. terrible men, and (p) the x\m-
monites, Zamzummims, i.e. the inventors of all wickednefs,
whofe pofterity were in being in the days of David, and
whole bones were to be feen at Hebron, the chief place
(/) Gen vi. 4. (i) Vi 1. Heidegger's Vit. patriar. and Pa-
trick's Commentary. (/) 'Enr/afrmc (;,v) Bia7o».
f Mr Whifton, in his Oiiginal records, has a fupplement con-
cerning the old giants, wherein, according to the Apocryphal
book of Enoch, he divides the giants inio three kinds, and in
this diviuon thinks himfllf countenanced by the words of Mofcs,
Gen. vi. 2. ire.; the firft and lovvell kind of which are calkd Eliu-
dim, and are of flature from 4 cubits to 1 c ; the frcond are A<;
Ihn, from 15 to 40 cubits ; and the third, or great giants, 40
cubhs at lcall, and many times above.
(«) Hueiii Alctan. Qgeit. (e) Dcut. ii. 11. (/>) Ver. 21.
Vol. I. N n of
1 66 The Hiflory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A.M. i;5<5.of their abade, is manifeft from the facred records, (q) All
Ant. Chrif.^j people (fay the fpies who were fent to take a furvey of
G/4 ,' the land) are men of ftature ; and there we faw the giants,
apd 6. to the forts of Anak, which came of the giants, fo unmeafura-
to ver. ij.bly large, that we were but like grajkoppers in comparifon
'of them. And therefore we need lefs wonder, that we
find (r) Jofephus, upon the fame occafion, telling us,
" That the race of giants was not then extinct, who, on
f account of their largenefs and fhapes (not at all to be
" likened to thofe of other men) were amazing to fee, and
<f terrible to hear of." Homer (s) fpeaks of the giants O-
tus ,md Ephialtes, who, at the age of nine years, were nine
cubits about, and fix and thirty in height ; he likewife de-
fcribes (/) the bignefs of the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was
of fuch prodigious ftrength, that he could, with the great-
eft facility, take up a ftone which two and twenty four-
wheellexl chariots would fcarce- be able to move. This we
allow to be, in fome meafure, romantic, but ftill it confirms
the tradition, that ieveral perfons of old were of a gigan-
tic feature.
" That the Cyclopes and Lseftrigones," ( u) fays Bochart,
?' were once in Sicily, we have the account, not only in
*i the poets,, Homer, Heiiod, and Euripides, Virgil, Ovid,
" and Silius, but in the hiftorians and geographers (I
" mean Thucydides and Strabo) who were Grecians, and in
" Trogus, Mela, Pliny, and others, who were Pvomans :
" And that there was fomething of truth in the fables con-
"' cerning them, we are allured by thofe bones of giants,
** which were dug out of the earth in the memory of our
" fathers." (x)
But.
(q) Numb. xiii. 23. (r) Antiq. 1. 5. c. 2. (s) OdylT. I. II.
(/) (bid, 1. 9. (n) Caiman i. 30.
(x) Fazellus relates, and out of him Cltiverins, that, A. D.
y 547, near Panormum in Sicily, the body of a giant was dug up,
about 18 cubits or 27 feet tall- The fame authors relate,,
that, A. D. 1516, was dug up, near Mazarene in Sicily, the
body o{ a giant, 2© cubits or 20 feet tall. The lame au-
thors relate, that, A. D. 1548, near Syracufe, was dug up ano-
ther body of the fame dimcnlion. They inform us, that A. D.
1 5 SO, near Eutella in Sicily, was dug up a body of about 22
cubits or 2 3 feet high, whole fkull was about 10 feet in cir-
cumference; and they defcribe the corps of a giant of porten-
tous magnitude, found (landing in a vail cave, near Drtpanum
J9 Sicily, A. P. 1342, whofe ftaff was like the mall of a dip,
sad
Chap V. from the Creation to the Flood. 1 6y
But I forbear more inftances of this kind, and, * refer- A.M. 1536.
ring the reader, for his further conviction, to fuch au- Am- *?**
thors as have profefledly handled this fubject, fhall only Gen. ch. 5.
crave leave to make this remark (y) that, in all pro- and 6. to
bability, no fmall part of the eldeft cities, towers, temples, ver- x ?•
obelifks, pyramids, and pillars, fome of which are ftill re-
maining, and defervedly efteemed the wonders of the world,
-J- were the ftruclure of thele ancient giants ; and, as they
furpafs the abilities of all later ages, fo they feem to me to
be the vifible and undeniable remains, monuments, and
demonftrations, not only of their existence, but of their
prodigious feature and ftrength likewiie ; fince in an age,
ignorant of mechanical powers and engines, fuch vaft piles
of building could no otherwile have been eredted.
Without concerning ourfelves then with the fictions
and fables of the poets, or (z) whether the giants of old
rebelling againft heaven, were able to heap mountains upon
and the forepart of whofe fkull would contain fome Sicilian
bufbels, which are about a third part of our Englilh bulhel. Vide
Whifton's Supplement concerning the old giants, in his Authentic
Records, part 2. ^
* They that defire to fee more inftances of this kind may
find them cited by Huetius, in his Queft. Aktan. 1. 2- ; Aug. De j
civit. Dei, 1. ip. j Jofeph. Antiq. 1. 1. c. J. 18 ; Pliny, 1. 1.;
Heidegger's Hift. patr. exercit. 11.; Gfotius De veritate, 1 1.;
Hackwell's Apolog. 1. 3. ; Whifton's Original Records, part 2. ;
and our Philofophical Tranfaclions, N 234. 272. 274. 346.
and 370.
(y) Whifton's Supplement, part 2.
■f The works of this kind which our author reckons up, are,
1. The Giants Dance, upon Salifbury Plain in England, now call-
led Stone-henge. 2. The Giants Caufeivay in the north of Ii eland.
3- The Circular Gigantic Stcne at Ravenna 4. The Twer of
Babel. 5. The two Obeufas mentioned by Herodotus. 6. The
Temple of Diana in Egypt. 7. The Labyrinth in Egypt. 8 The
Lake Moeris, 480 miles long, and dug by human labour, all
by the fame Herodotus. 9. The Sphinx oi Egypt, to. The tnoji
ancient Te?//ple in Er>ypt. 11. The Agrigentine Tfmple. 1 2. The
Pyra?mdal Obelisk, all mentioned by Diodorns Siculr.s. 15. The
Temple of Solomon. 1 4. The Palace of'Sclcmon at Jcrufalem. 1 5.
That at Balbeck. 16. That at Tacmor. 17. The Palace and
'Buildings at Perferolis. 18. The Temple of Belus at Babylon.
19. The Temple at Chillembrum. And, 20. Thq firjt Tar.pts
ff Diana at Ephefus; Whifton's Suppl.
(2) Calmet's Diftertation fur les geans, vol. 2.
N n 2 mountains,
1 68 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.M. i s 36. mountains, in order to fcale it, or to hurl rocks, and
An% 69 " ^ant^s' and nuSe flaming trees againft it, in order to fhake,
Gen. ch. j.or ^et lt °n fire ', all that we pretend to iay is, that in an-
cient days, there were giants in great numbers, who (ex-
cepting the largenefs of their ftature) werp formed and
faihioned like other men, and waged no other war with
heaven, than what all wicked perfons are known to do,
when they provoke the Divine Majefty by their crimes and
enormous impieties. This is the whole of what the Scrip-
tures afiert, and I know no occafion we have to defend the
wild hyperboles of the poets.
The reality Amidft, the antediluvian corruption, and even while
or" Enoch's thefe abominable and gigantic men were in being, Mofes
r ri ?0"; ma^es particular mention of one perfon of eminent fancli-
mcans. ty* an<1 w^10 found a favour extraordinary, for having pre-
lerved his innocence, and perfifted in his duty, notwith-
ftanding the wickednefs of the age wherein he lived.
Enoch was certainly, in other refpecls, an extraordinary'
perfon. (a) St Jude diftinguifhes him as a prophet : (b) the
Arabians reprefent him as a great fcholar ; the Babylonians
look upon him as the author of their aftrology ; the Greeks
call him their Atlas, and affirm, that he was the firlt who
taught men the knowledge of the liars : but it was not for
thele rare qualities, fo much as for his lingular piety and
virtue, that God exempted him from the common fate of
mankind. '
The Jewifh doctors indeed will have the words of Mofes
concerning him to import no more, than his fudden and un-
timely death, becaufe he lived not near fo long as the other
patriarchs. But the paraphrafe which St Paul gives us of
them, (c) By faith Enoch was iranfated, that he Jhoidd
not fee death, and was not found, becaufe- God .had tranjla-
ted him ; for before his tranflation, he had this teflimony,
that he j leafed God ; this paraphrafe, I fay, will not fuffer
us to doubt of the truth of the Chriftian interpretation.
And indeed, (d) unlels the Chriftian interpretation be true,
the whole emphalis of Mofes's words is loft, and they be-
come a crude tautology. For if we fay, that Enoch tads
not, i. e. was no longer living, becaufe Good took him, i.e.
God caufed him to die ; it is the fame, as if we fhovld fay,
Cod caufed him to die, ' becaufe he took him away by death,
which is flat and infipid, a proof of the fame thing by the
[a) Ver. t 4 ire. (b) Calmet's DicTnnary on the word Enoch.
(r) Heb. xi/ 5. (d) Heidegger's Hilt, patriar. txercit. o.
fame
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 1 69
fame thing, and hardly confident with common fenfe:A.M. isyf-
whereas, if we interpret the words in this manner— »■— Ant. Chn£
Enoch was not, i.e. was no where to be found, wasGe*4ch"
feen neither among the living nor the dead here on earth, and e. to
for God took him, i. e. becaufe God tranflated him to ano-ver. 13.
titer place, foul and body together, without undergoing the'
pains of death ; here is a grace and energy in the expref-
iion, not unbecoming the ftyle of an infpired penman.
The realbn which Mofes affigns for God's taking him
in this wife, is, that he -walked 'with God: But if God's
taking him means no more than his hafty death, it was" far
from being a divine atteftation of his piety, (becaufe length
of days are the promifed reward of that) ; and therefore we
may be allowed to infer, that his walking with God war.
not the caufe of his ablation by death, but of his affump- i
tion into glory. The truth is, (e) about 57 years before
this event, Adam, the father of all living, had fubmitted
•to the fentence denounced againft him, .and refigned his
breath ; and whatever notions his poflerity might have of
a life immortal in reverfion, yet it feemed expedient to the
divine wifdom, at diis time, in the perfon of Enoch, to
give, them, as it were, an anticipation of it, and to Tup-
port and comfort them under the fenfe of their mortality,
with the profpeel, and aflurcd hope, that after the dark
entry of death was paffed, they were to be admitted into
the manfions of blifs.
Our Saviour, indeed, when he came upon earth, (tho' Why Chrfft
declared from heaven to be the Son of God) , was not exempt- was n°5 cx~
ed from the common condition of our mortality. (/) For- from deaths
afmuch as the children are partakers of -flcjh and blood, he
alfo him/elf likewife took part of the fame, that through
death, he might defray him who had the power of death,
i. e. the devil. His errand was to propitiate for our iins ;
but fince, (g) without Jhedding of blood there is no rnm/Jton,
the decree was, that he fhould die, which when he had
fatisfied, he rofe again ; and after forty days converfc
with his difciples, even (/;) while they beheld him, we "are
told, he was taken up into heaven, and a cloud received.
him out of their fight. And, in like manner, if the end
of Enoch's aflumption was for the conviction of mankind
in that great article of faith, the reality of another world,
it feems reafonable to believe, that the thing was done 1 u-
blicly and vifibly ; that either fome bright and radiant cloud
(e) Patrick's Commfntary. (/) Keb. ii. 14. (g) Ch. ix. 22«
(h) Ads xixt and Luke xx'tv. 5 1 .
guided
I
' •
170 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.M. is 36. guided by the miniftry of angels, gently raifed him from
^Qt 68hnf t^ie eart'1» anc* mounted with him upon high, (which feeuis
Gen. ch! $.to ^e our Saviour's cafe), or that a (;') Jlrong ghufl of -wind,
and 6. to governed by the fame angelic powers, in ibme vehicle or
J3- other, refembling a bright chariot and horfes, tranfported
him into heaven, (which feems to be the cafe of Elijah), and
that, in his paflage thither, his body was transformed, his
corruptible into incorruption, his mortal into immortality,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (k), as we are told
it will happen to thofe who are alive, when the lajl trump-
et fli all found.
The place It is an idle conceit therefore of fome of the Jewifh,
t0 ™h^h E" as well as Chriftian doctors, that Enoch was not tranllated
tranflated- mto tne celeftial, but only into the old terreftrial paradife,
wherein Adam, before his tranfgreffion, lived. Whether
the beauty of that place went to ruin, or no, as foon as
our firft parents were ejected, and no hand left to drefs it,
it is certain, it could never withstand the violence of the
flood ; and confequently Enoch muft have periflied in it,
unlefs we can fuppofe *, that he was preferved by forne fuch
miracle as the Ifraelites were, when they pafled through
the Red-fca, and that the waves, towering up on all fides,
furrounded it like a wall, and kept that particular fpot dry ;
which is by much too bold a fuppofition, efpecially when it
contradicts that authority, which tells us, that (/) the wa~
ters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and thai all the
high hills, which were wider the whole heavens, were covered.
Whatever therefore fome may fancy to themfelves,
Heathen^- we acknowledge now no other paradife, than what is re-
vidences presented in the Scriptures, as a place in which God gives
hereof: tjie brighten: evidences of his prefence, and communicates
his glory with the utmoft majefty ; a place which St Paul
calls (m) the third heaven, whereunto Elijah was tranf-
(i) 2 Kings ii. ir. (k) 1 Cor. xv. 52.
* Bonferins ait, Vcrifimile elfe paradilum ab imbribus ferva-
tum immunem, undique ad latcra ft fe attolkntibus aquis, ct quali
in murum folidatis, quemadmodnm folidatae aquae Maris Rubri,
Ifi telitis in medio aquarum tranfenntibus. Verum non hie quid
vtrfimile fit quaeritur, fed quid pro certo affirnutri poflit. Ubi
mi;aculi nullum velliginm apparet, non licet propria opinions
vcrilimiliiudinis illud altruerej Heidegger, V it.patriar. De rapiu
Eficjchi, excrcit. 9.
(/) Gen. vi. 19% {m) 2 Cor. xii. 2.
lated,
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 171
fated, and wherein ourblefled Saviour is now (n) preparing A.M. 153*
manjhns for us, tb.it "where he is, ivemay be alfo. Into this " ' 6gUI '
happy place we fuppofe Enoch to have been conveyed, and Gen. ch. 5.
it is no mean confirmation of the truth of the Moiaic ac- ancle, to
count, that we find, among the Heathen world, notions ^"J^
of the like translation : that we find Bacchus alluring
Cadmus, that, by the help of Mars, he fhould live for
ever in the ijles of the blejfed : that we find Aganympha
made immortal by the favour or" Jupiter ; and, after the
death of her hummd Hercules, Alcmena, tranflated by
Mercury, and married to fthadamahtus ; with many more
allulions of the like nature (0).
And in like manner, it is far from being a bad argu- j'1™1^
ment for the truth and reality of the flood (/>), that we find,
almoft every where in the Latin and Greek hiftorians, hor-
rid defcriptions of the lives of the giants, which occasion-
ed that heavy judgment : that we find Berofus the Chal-
dean, '(as he is quoted by (q) Jofephus), relating the fame
things which Mofes does, concerning the great deluge, the
deftruction of mankind by it, and the ark, in which Nochus
(the fame with Noah) was preferved, and which refted on
the tops of the Armenian mountains : that we find Aby-
denus, the Ailyrian (as he is cited (r) by Eufebius) taking
notice of the wood of the vefTel, wherein Xifuthrus (f
for fo he calls Noah) was faved, and telling us, that the peo-
ple of Armenia made ufe of it for amulets to drive away
difeafes : that we find Alexander Polyhiftor, in a paflage
produced (s) by Cyril, informing us of an Egyptian prieft
who related to Solon, out of the facred books of the Egyp-
tians, (as he fuppofes), that, before the particular deluges
known and celebrated by the Grecians, there was of old
an exceeding great inundation of waters, and devaluation
of the earth : and (to mention no more) that we find (t)
Lucian giving us a long account of an ancient tradition,
(n) Johnxiv. 2. 3. (0) Huetii Qnaeft. Aletanae, 1. 2. c. 10.
(/>) Grotius De verit. 1. 1. §. 16. (q) Cont. App. 1. 1. (r) Pre-
pare Evang. 1. 9.
f M. Lc Gere, in his notes upon Grot. De verit. [1. T. §. 16.]
feems to intimate, that Xifuthrus, Ogygcs, and Deucalion,, ara all
names fignifying the lame thing in other languages, as Noah
docs in Hebrew, wherein Mofrs wrote ; and that the deluges
which are (aid to have happened in their times, and are thought
10 be diffi rent, were in reality one and the fame.
(/) (. ontra Julianuin.
\t) De Dea Syria.
■which
172 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book L
A.M. 153s. which the.psople of Hierapolis had of the deluge, * vary-
Aiit. Chnf.jng very little from what our facred hiftorian relates : when
Creech. j.we ^n^ a^ t'1'3' ^ily» we cannot bat acknowledge, that
and 6- to thefe, and the many mOTe hiftOrians who are ufually pro-
vet. 13. duced upon this head, are a ftrong tefti nony of the truth
and authority ofMofes; and therefore, to conclude this
reply, or vindication of him, with the reflection of the
learned (v.) Scaliger upon the agreement he perceived be-
tween Moles and Abydemis, in the account they both give
of the dove and the raven which Noah is laid to have
Tent out : " Though the Greek hi'^orians (fays he) do not
" always agree in particulars with the lacred one, yet they
* The account, though fomewhat long, is not unpleafant, and
deferves our obfervation. This race of men (fays he) which now
is, was not the firtl: : thefe are of a fecond generation, and from
their ru-ft progenitor Deucalion, who increafed to fo great a mul-
titude as we now fee. Now of thefe former men they tell us this
ftory, —They were contentious, and did many unrighteous
things; they neither kept their oaths, nor were hofpkable to Gran-
gers ; for which reafon this great misfortune came upon them :
All on a Hidden the earth difembowelled itfelf of a great quantity
of water, great fhowcrs fell, the rivers overflowed, and the fea
fwelled to a prodigious height ; fo that all things became water,
and all men periihed. Only Deucalion was left unto the fecond
generation, upon the account of his prudence and piety ; and the
manner wherein he was faved is this He had a great ark
or cheft, into which he came with his children' and the women
of his houfe, and then entered hogs, and horfes, and lions, and
ferpents, and all other animals which live upon the earth, toge-
ther with their mates. He received them all, and they did him
no harm ; for by the affiftance of heaven there was a great amity
between them, fo that all failed in one cheft as long as the water
did predominate. This is the account which all the Greek hifto-
j'ians give of Deucalion. But what happened afterwards (as it is
told by the people of Hierapolis) is worthy our obfervation, viz.
That in their country there was a chafm, into which all this wa-
ter funk, whereupon Deucalion built an altar, and creeled a tem-
ple over it, which he confecrated to Juno : and to verify this ftory,
not only the priefts, but the other inhabitants likewife of Syria
and Arabia, twice every year, bi ing abundance of water, which
they pour into the temple, and though the chafm be but fmall,
vet it receives a prodigious quantity of it ; and when they do this,
they relate how Deucalion lirft iufti.tuted this cuftom, in memory
©f that calamity, and his deliverance from it.
(;/) Not. in Fragm in append, ad emend, temp.
are
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 173
*' are rather to be pitied for not having had the advantage A-M- '53*.
** of true and authentic antiquities and records to let them ; jr H*
" right, than to forfeit their value and authority, from Gen. d>. j.
*' fuch Hips and deviations from the truth of the ftory as and a. to
" render their teftimony and confirmation of the truth ofver' 13'
" the facred hiftory much ftronger, becaufe much lefs to
" be fufpected than if they agreed with it in every circum-
" fiance."
DISSERTATION V.
Of the Heathen hiftory, the chronology, religion, learning,
longevity, Sec. of the antediluvians.
w
E are now arrived at a period, where it may be con- The Pfca-
venient to take fome notice of fuch Heathen wri- t|ieu ""ft '"
ters as have given us an account of the times before the ^cre3t>*oa
flood, through which we have hitherto been tracing Mofec ; to the flood.
and thofe that are efteemed of the belt credit and repute,
are only three; Berofus, who wrote the hiftory of the Chal-
deans ; Sanchoniatho, who compiled that of the Phoeni-
cians; and Manetho, who collected the antiquities of Egypt.
The Chaldeans were certainly a nation of great and T'^ hiftory
undoubted antiquity, (x) In all probability they were thept ,er0 us>
tirft formed into a national government after the flood, and
therefore were more capable of having fuch arts and fcien-
ces flourilh among them as might preferve the memory of
eldeft times, to the lateft pofterity : and yet, even among
thefe people, who enjoyed all the advantages of eafe,
quiet, and a flourilhing empire, we find no credible and
undoubted records preferved. Berofus, their hiftorian, was,
(as (y) Jofephus allures us) a prieft of Belus, and a Baby-
Ionian born, but afterwards ilouriihed in the i!le of Cos,
and was the firft who brought the Chaldean aftrology into
requeft among the Greeks; in honour of whole name and
memory, the Athenians (who were great encouragers of
novelties) eredlcd a ftatue for him with a golden tongue,
a good emblem of his hiftory, (2) fays one, which made
a fair and fpecious lhew, but was not within what it pre-
1 ended to be, efpecially when it attempts to treat of ancient
limes. It cannot be~ denied, however, but that ibme
(.v) Siillingfleet's Grig. fecr. 1. 1. c. 5. (/) Cont. App. 1. u
(z) Vid. Univcrf. hift. ; and Shuckford's Cone& I. 1.
Vol.T Oo fragments
3 74 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A.H.J.. 15 ;''. fragments of it which have been preferred from rum by
Ant. chni. the care and induftry of Jofephus, Tatianus, Eufebius, and
others, have been very ufeful, not only for proving the
trryh. of Scripture-hiftory to the Heathens, but for con-
! Ik e wife fome pafiages relating to the Babylonifh
'empire.
Afti-r a defcription of Babylonia, and a ftrange ftory
concerning a certain creature, which, in the firft year of
the world, came out of the Red fea, and, converting fami-
liarly with men, taught them the knowledge of letters,
and feveral arts and fciences, he proceeds to give us a fhort
account of ten kjngs which reigned in Chaldea before
the flood, and theft, corefponding with the number which
,Mofes mentions, Alorus, the firft, is fuppofed to be A-
dam; and Xiluthrus, the laft, Noah; and of this Xifu-
thrus he purfues the ftory in this manner.
(a) Cronus, or Saturn, appearing to him in a dream,
gave him warning, that on the 1 5th day of the month Da>
iius, mankind ihoidd be deftroyed by a flood, and there-
fore commanded him to build a fhip ; and, having firft
furnifhed it with provisions, and taken into it fowls and
four-footed beads, to go into if himfelf, with his friends
and neareft relations. Xiluthrus did as he was ordered,
built a yeflel, whofe length was five furlongs, and breadth
two furlongs ; and having put on board all that he was di-
rected, went into it, with his wife, children, and friends.
When the flood was come, and began to abate, he let out
le birds, which finding no food, nor place to reft on,
orned to the fhip again. After fome days, he let out
birds again, but they came back with their feet daubed
h mud ; and when, after fome days more, he let them
.be third time, they never came back again, whereby
he underftood that the earth appeared again above the wa-
v- •, andfo, taking down fome of the planks of the fhip, he
it refted upon a mountain. This is the fubftance of
Lave in Berofus, who varies very little from our
rian during this period.
Sanchoniatho is highly commended both by Por-
JU' phyry, the great adverfary of Chriftianity, and by his
tranilator into Greek, Philo Bibiius. Theodoret is of o-
pinion, that his name, in the Phoenician tongue, Signifies
kt>t)M\i6v(, a lover of truth ; which name, as Bochart
imagines; wis given him when he firft let himfelf to write
(a) ibid. {!-) Sriliingneci'sOrig. facr. \ 1. c. V
hutory -.
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 175
hiftory: but how faithful he has been in tranfcribing his A.M. rj'3^1
account of things from his records, we cannot determine, Ant-
unlefs we had the books of Taautus, and the facred ink-rip- <- , ." ' ch' s>
lions and records of cities, from whence he pretends to have and c. to
extracted his hiftory, to compare them together. If wev-TI3-
may judge by what remains of his writings, which is only v
his firft book concerning the Phoenician theology extant in
Eufebius, we fhall hardly think him deferring fo large a
commendation : but be that as it will, the method where-
in he proceeds is this. x\fter having delivered his cofmo-
gony, or generation of the other parts of the world, he
tells us, that the firft pair of human creatures were Proto*
gonus and ^Eon, (as Philo, his translator, calls them), the
latter of whom found out the food which is gathered from
trees : that their iffue were called Genus and Genoa, who »
were the firft that practifed idolatry; for, upon the -oc
canon of great droughts, they made their adorations to
the fun, calling him Beelfamen, which, in Phoenician, is
the Lord of heaven : that the children or thefe were Phos,
Pur, and Phlox, i. e. light, fire, and flame, who firft
found out the way of generating fire, by rubbing pieces of
wood againft one another : that thefe begat fons of vail
bulk and ftatuie, whofe names were given to mount Caf-
fius, Libanus, Antilibanus, and Brathys, whereon they fel-
led : that of thefe were begotten Memrumus, and Hypfura-
nius, the latter of whom was the inventor of huts mac!
reeds and rufhes, and had a brother called Ufous, the firft
worfhipper of fire and wind, in whofe time women became
very abandoned and debauched : that many years after this
generation, came Agreus and Halieus, the inventors oi
the arts of hunting and fifhing : that of thefe were begot-
ten two brothers, the firft forgers and workers in iron ;
the name of one is loft, but Chryfor (who is the fa
with Vulcan) found out all fifhing-tackle, and, in a fnaa 1
boat, was the firft that ventured to fea, for which he was
afterwards deified : thaf from this generation came two
brothers, Technites and Autochthon, who invented the art
of making tiles ; from thefe Agrus, and Agrotes, who firft
made courts about houfes, fences, and cellars ; and from
;li :.■ Amynus, and Magus, who ihewed men how to con-
ftitute villages, and regulate their flocks. This is the i
ftance of what Sanchoniatho relates dimng this period ; and
how far it agrees with the account of Moles, efpeciallv in
the idolatrous line of Cain, our learned bifhop Cumberland
has all along made his observations.
O o 2 Mar.
i76 The Hifiory of the BIBLE, Book 1
A. M. issG Manetho Sebennka was high-prieft of Heliopolis in the
Anc. Chni. time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, by whofe ordei' he wrote
2,408. kjs yftorv • but that which deftroys the credit of it, (though
ami 6. to lt gave ^lxn an opportunity of invention), is, that (c) he pro-
ven i?. feiles to transcribe his Dynafties from inferiptions on the
' v^— ' pillars of Hermes (whom the Egyptians, out of veneration,
and lot Ma* cay[ Trifmwiftus} in the land of Seriad, which land no one
knows any thing or, and which pillars being engraven be-
fore the flood, can hardly be iuppofed toefcape undefaced*-
Tiie plain truth is, the LXX tranflation was, not long
before this time, rinifhed ; and when the Jewifh antiquities
came to appear in the world, the Egyptians (who are
mighty pretenders this way) grew jealous of the honour of
their nation, and were willing to ihew, that they could
trace up their memoirs much higher than Mofes had car-
ried thofe of the Israelites, (d) This was the chief defign
of Manetho's making his collections.. Pie was refolved to
make the Egyptian antiquities reach as far backwards as he
could ; and therefore, as many feveral names as he found
in their records, fo many fucceflive monarchs he determi-
ned them to have had.; never conlidering that Egypt was at
tirft divided into three, and afterwards into four lovereign-
ties for fome time, fo that three or four of his kings were
many times reigning together : which, if duly conlidered,
will be a means to reduce the Egyptian account to a mora
reaforvible comp:;fs.
* The fubftance of the account however (as it Stands
unexplained in Manetho) it this : That there were in
Egypt thirty dynafties of gods, confiiting of 113 genera-
tions,
(c) Vtd. StoKngfieet's Orig. &cr. 1. r. c. 2. N°. n. {(!)
Sbuckfbrd's Corned, parr r. I. r.
* The accounts of Manetho feem at varfl fight fo extravagant,
inn raa^y great writers look iipoij them as mere fictions, and
omit attempting to fay any thing concerning them ; though other
learned men (and more especially our countryman Sir John
jVia'-iham, in his Can. chron. p. 1.) not well fatisfied with this
proceedings have undertaken an examination of them, and uiih
fome fucce's. The misfortune is, we have nrne of the original
works from wlur.ee they were collected, nor any one author
that properly gives us any light or knowledge of them. The
hiilorians Diodorus Siculus, aud Herodotus, did not examine thefe
matters to the bottom ; and we have no remains of the old
Egyptian Chronicon, or of the works of Manetho, except fome
^uouiiions in the works of oilier writers. The Chronographia
of
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 177
tions, and which took up the fpace of 36,525 years; that A.M. 1531?.
when this period was out, then there reigned eight demi- A1"- c,iri^
gods in the fpace of 2 1 7 years ; that after them fucceeded Ge** a,'. s>
a race of heroes, to the number of 1 5, and their reign took and 6. to
up 443 years ; that all this was before the flood, and thenver- «3«
began the reign of their kings, the firft of whom was
Menes.
NoWj in ofder to explain what is meant by this prodi-
gious number of years, we mure obferve, (e) that it was
a very ufual and cuftomary thing for ancient writers to be-
gin their hiftories with fome account of the origin of
things, and the creation of the world. Mofes did fo in his
book of Genefis ; Sanchoniatho did fo in his Phoenician hi-
ftory ; and it appears from Diodorus, that the Egyptian an-
tiquities did fo too. Their accounts began about £e origin
of things, and the nature of the gods ; then follows an ac-
count of their demi-gods and terreftrial deities ; after them
came their heroes, or firft rank of men ; and laft of all,
their kings. Now, if their kings began from the flood ;
if their heroes and demi-gods reached up to the beginning
of the world; then the account which they give of ths
reigns of their gods, before thefe, can be only their theolo-
gical fpeculations put into fuch order as they thought mofl
philofophicaL
To make this more plain, we muff, obferve farther, that
the firft and moil ancient gods of the Egyptians, and of all
other nations, (after they had departed from the worfhip
of the true God), were the luminaries of heaven; and it is
very probable, that what they took to be the period of
time in which any of thefe deities finifhed their courfe,
that they might call the time of his reign. Thus a perfect
and compleat revolution of any ftar which they wor-
of Syncellus, wrote by one George, an abbot of the monaftery of
St. Simeon, and called St. Syncellus^ as being fuffragan of Tara-
fius, patriarch of Confkmtinoplc, is the only work we can have re-
courfe to. From thefe antiquities Syncellus collected the quota-
tions of the old Chnmicons of Manetho, and of Eratofthenes, as
he found them in the works of Africanus and Eufebius ; and the
works of Africanus and Eufebius being now loft, (for it is known
that the work which goes under the name »f Eufebius's Chronicon
is a corrspofition of Scaliger's), we liave nothing to be depended
upon but what we find in Syncellus above mentioned ; Shuckford't
Cotir.cff.
(f) Shuckford's Connect. 1. r.
Ihirrpcd,
i;8
A.M. in<5
Ant. Chrif
1468.
Gen. ch. 5
and <5. to
ver. 13.
The differ
ence be-
tween the
Hebrew
and Sama-
ritan com-
putations:
The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
(hipped, was the reign of that ftar ; and as a period of
36,525 yeax-s is what they call an entire mundane revolu-
tion, 1. e. when the feveral heavenly bodies come round to
the fame point, from which all their courfes began ; fo is
it very remarkable, that they made the fum total of the
reigns of all their feveral Gods, to amount to the felf-fame
fpace of time. This I take to be a true irate of the Egyp-
tian dynahies : and if fo, it makes their hiftory not near
fo extravagant as has been imagined, and finks their ac-
count of time forne hundred years fhort of the Jewifh
computation.
The Jewifh computation indeed is not a little ambi-
guous, by reafon of the different methods, which men find
themielves inclined to purfue. The three common ways of
computir$ the time from the creation to the flood, are,
that which arifes from the Hebrew text, from the Samari-
tan copies, and from the LXX interpretation.
The computation of Mofes.
1. According to
the Hebrew text.
Began his life
in the year
of the world
Had his fon
in the year
of his life
Lived after
his fon's
birth, years
Lived in all,
years
Died in the
year of the
world
Adam
I
130
800
93°
93°
Seth - - -
J3°
105
807
912
1042
Enos - - -
235
90
8l5
905
1 140
Cainan
325
70
840
910
J235
Mahalaleel -
395
65
830
895
1290
Jared -
460
102
800
962
1422
Enoch
622
6$
300
365
987
Methufelah -
687
187
782
969
1656
Lamech
.87,.
182
595
777
1651
Noah
10^6
500
2. Accor
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood.
2. According to
the Samaritan.
j
Began his life
in the year
of the* .
world
Iil.ul his fon
in the year
of his life
Lived after
his fon'i
birth, years
r. <
p> 0
5*
Died in the
yjjr of the
world
Adam - -
I
13O
SOO
93°
93°
Seth -
r3°
IO5
807
912
1042
1 140
Enos -
235
90
815
9° 5
Cainan
325
7°
840
910
!235
Mahalalcel -
JaTed - I
395
65
830
895
1290
460
62
785
847
!3°7
Enoch
522
65
3OO
365
887
J_3°_7_
I3°7
Iviethufelah -
_5*7_
654
67
^3
720
Lamech
53
600
653
Noah
707
500
\
179
A.M. 1S36.
Ant. Chrif.
1468.
Gen. ch. 5.
and 6. to
ver. 13.
3. According to
the Septuagint.
Began his life
in the year
of the
world
Had his fon
in the year
of his life
FT. ET. -r
% n
^ C.
2 o-
Ditd in the
year of the
world
Adam
I
230
7OO
930
93°
Seth -
230
205
. 7°7
952
1042
Enos - - -
435
I90
7*5
005
_£34o
l53S
Cainan
625
170
740
910
Rfahalaleel
795
165
73°
895
1 690
Jared - -
960
162
800
962
1 92 2
Enoch
1122
165
200
365
M87
Methuielah -
1287
187
782
969
2256
Lamech
r474
188
565
753
2227
Noah -
1662
500
1
The difference between the Hebrew and Samaritan
computation is eafdy perceived, by comparing the two for-
mer tables together ; nor will it be any hard matter to re-
concile them, if we confider what (/') St Jerom informs us
(/') In quasft. in Gencf,
of,
i8o The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. is3<s of, viz. that there were Samaritan copies which made
Ant. Chrif.jyiet.fiufe!a}1 jgy years old at the birth of Lamech ; and La-
Ge^4ch' mech 182 at the birth of Noah. Now, if this be true, it
and 6. to is eafy to fuppofe 62 (the age of Jared at the birth of E-
ver. 13. noch) to be a miftake of the tranferiber, who might drop
*""— v~m~J & letter, and write 62 inftead of 162 ; and thus all the dif-
ference between the Hebrew and Samaritan copies will en-
tirely vanifh.
And be- But it is not fo between the Hebrew and the Septuagint.
t-tveen the rphe jjebreWj acc0rding to the higheft calculation, makes
and Septu- no more than 1656 years* before the flood, but the Sep-
agint. tuagint raife it to no lefs than 2262 : fo that in this one pe-
riod (without faying any thing of the wide difference be-
tween them in fubfequent times) there is an addition of a-
bove 600 years, which can f hardly be accounted for by any
miftake of tranferibers, becaufe all the ancient and authen-
tic copies, both of the Hebrew and Septuagint, agree ex-
actly in their computation. And therefore the generality
of learned men, defpairing of a reconciliation, have fairly
entered the lifts, and taken the fide which they thought
moft tenible.
Arguments Thofe who efpoufe the caufe of the Greek verfion,
foi the Sep- clraw m, their arguments in this rank and order. They
euagint. f p
•f- Lud. Capellns [in his Chron. facr. in apparatu Walton, ad
B'tbl. Polyglot."] attempts to reconcile this difference, by telling
us from St. Auftin [De Civitate Dei, cap. 13.] that this edition
was not made by the LXX themfelves, but by fome early tran-
feriber from them, and probably for one or other of thefe two rea-
fons; ift, Perhaps, thinking the years of the antediluvians to be
but lunar, and computing, that at this rate the fix fathers (whofe
lives are thus altered) muft have had their children at 5, 6, 7,
or 8 years old (which could not but look incredible) ; the trail-'
fcriber, I fay, finding this, might be induced to add 100 years to
each, in order to make them of a more probable age of manhood
at the birth of their refpeclive children: or, adly, If he thought
the years of their lives to be folar, yet Hill he might imagine,
that infancy and childhood were proportionably longer in men who
were to live 7, 8, or 9 hundred years, than they are in us ; and
that it was too early in their lives for them to be fathers at 60, 70,
or 90 years of age ; and for this realon, might add an roo years
to make their advance to manhood (which is commonly not till
one fourth part of life is over) proportionable to what was to be the
term of their duration ; Skuckford't Cotineciiont /.' 1.
• tell
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 181
tell us, that the alteration in the Septuagint computation A.M. u 16.
muft have been purpofcly made; becaufe, where letters Ant. Chnf.
mtift neceffarily have been added, and where fometimes bothG *4ch'
parts of a verfe, and fometimes two verfes together are al- and c to
tered, and fo altered, as ft'ill to keep them coniiftimt with vcr. 13
one another ; this, whenever done, muft be done defigned-
ly, and for no other reafon that they can imagine, but
merely a detection of errors in the Hebrew copies.
They tell us, that, though they have no politive proof of
fuch errors in the prefent Hebrew copies, yet they have
good grounds to fufpeel: there are fuch, becaufe that, be-
fore the time of Antiochus, the Jews, while in peace, were
fo very carelefs about their facred writings, that they fuf-
fered feveral variations to creep into their copies ; that
when Antiochus fell upon them, he feized and burnt all the
copies he could come at, fo that none, but fuch as were
in private hands, efcaped his fury ; that, as foon as that
calamity was over, thofe copies which were left in pri-
vate hands, the Jews got together, in order to tranferibe
others from them ; and that, from thefe tranferiptions,
came all the copies now in ufe. Now fuppofe, fay they,
that thefe private copies which efcaped the fury of Antio-
chus, but were made in an age confeffedly inaccurate, had
any of them dropt fome numerical letters, this might occa-
sion the prefent Hebrew text's falling fhort in its compu-
tations : And, to confirm this,
They tell us, that Jofephus, (g) who exprefsly declares,
that he wrote his hiftory from the facred pages, (h) in his
account of the lives of the antediluvian patriarchs, agrees
with the Septuagint ; and that the Greek hiftorians before
Jofephu^, fuch as Demetrius Phalerius, Philo the elder,
Eupolemus, drc. very accurate writers, and highly com-
mended by Clemens Alexandrinus, and Eufebius, in their
calculation differ very much from the common Hebrew :
So that not only Jofephus, but thefe elder hiftorians like-
wife muft have either feen, or been informed of certain He-
brew copies which agreed with the Septuagint, and dif-
fered from what have defcended to us. In fhort,
They tell us, (i) that the whole Chriftian church,
Eaftern and Weftern, and all the celebrated writers of the
church, are on their fide ; that all the ancient manufcripts
have exactly the fame computations with the common Sep-
(g) Contra A pp. 1. 1. (/') Aptiq. 1. I. c> 3. (J) Shuckford's
C onne&ion ; and Heidegger's Hiif. patrjar.
Vol. I. ? p tuagint,
1 8 2 The Hiflory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A M rJ3(j tuagint, except here and there a valuation or two, not
Ant. Chrif. worth regarding; and therefore they conclude, that, as
i4<58. there is a manifeft difagreement between the Greek and He-
aad k. to* brew copies in this refpecl, the miftake fhould rather be
ver. 13. charged upon the Hebrew, than the Septuagint ; becaufe,
v— "-v~"*«'as the Hebrew is thought by fome to fall fhort, and the
Septuagint to exceed, in its account of die lives of the
patriarchs, 'tis obvious to conceive, that a fault of this
kind may be incurred by way of omiflion rather than ad-
dition.
Forth^Ke- Thofe who maintain the authority of the Hebrew text,
brew com- ^ ftandard and rule of reckoning the years of the pa-
pulation. . . . . . & J r
triarchs, oppole their adverlanes in this manner.
They tell us (k) that the Hebrew text is the original,
in which the Spirit of God indicted the Scriptures of the
Old Teftament, and being, confequently, authentic, is
better to be trufted than any tranflation made by men
liable to error, as the LXX interpreters were ; and that
the Jews, to whom (/) were committed thefe oracles of
God, ufed the greateft diligence to preferve them pure and
entire, infomuch, that in the courfe of fo many years (as
{in) Jofephus teftifies in his time) no perfon durft add, take
away, or mifplace any thing therein.
They tell us, that no reafon can be affigned, why the
Hebrew text fhould be corrupted, but many very probable
ones, why the Septuagint might ; fince, either to exalt the
antiquity of their own nation, or to conform to the dyna-
flies of the Egyptians, the Jewifh interpreters at Alexandria
might falfify their chronology ; fince, in this very point,
there are, 10 many different readings in the Septuagint, and
fo many errors and mif-tranflations in it, that {ji) the learn-
ed Dr Lightfoot (to whom, as yet, no fufficient reply has
been made) has proved it a very corrupt and impex'fect
verfioh.
They tell us, that the Hebrew computations are fup-
ported by a perfect concurrence and agreement of all
Hebrew copies now in being ; that there have been no va-
rious readings in thefe places, fince the Talmuds were com-
posed; that, even in our Saviour's time, this was the cur-
rent way of calculation, fince the paraphrafe of Onkelos
(k) Millar's Church hiflory. (/) Rom. iii. 2. (m) Contra
App. I. r. (ti) Fid. Ejus opera, torn. 2. p. 932. ex edit. Ultra-
ject. 1699.
(which
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 1S3
(which is on all hands agreed to be about that age) is the A' M. 153*5.
fame exactly with the Hebrew in this matter ; that St *" ^8hnf"
Jerom and St Auftin (who were the belt Ikilled in the Gen. ch. f.
Hebrew tongue of any fathers in their age) followed it in ai<d o. to
their writings, and the Vulgar Latin, which has been in *cr^_I ^
ufe in the church above 1000 years, entirely agrees
with it.
They tell us, that Demetrius, the real hiftorian, (for f
Phalerius was none), lived not before the reign of Pto-
lemy Philopater, the grandfon of Philadelphus, near fe-
venty years after the LXX tranflation was made : that
Philo vy;as contemporary with our Saviour, wrote almoffc
300 years after the faid tranflation, and, living conftantly
at Alexandria, might very well be fuppofed to copy from it ;
that Jofephus, though a Jew, and perfectly fkilled in the He-
brew language, in many inftances, (which learned (0) men
have pointed out), adheres to the Greek in oppofition to
the Hebrew ; and that the fathers of the firft ages of the
church, though they were very good men, had no great
extent of learning ; underftood the Greek tongue better
than the Hebrew ; and for that reafon gave tne preference
to the Septuagint computation.
In thjs manner do the advocates for the Hebrew text
defend its authority : And, fince it is confeffed, there has
been a tranfmutation fomewhere, if that tranfmutation
was defignedly and on purpofe done, (as the adverfe party
agrees), 'tis indifferent (p) whether it was done by way of
addition or fubtraction : Only as it is evident, chat the
f Demetrius Phalerius was the firft prefident of the college
of Alexandria, to which the library belonged, where the ori-
ginal manufcripts of the Septuagint were repofited. He was a
great fcholar as well as an able ftatefman and politician ; but I
doubt Biihop Walton is miftaken, when (in his 9th Prolegom. ad
Bib. Polyglot.) he quotes him as one of thofe Greek hiftorians
whofe works might prove the Septuagint computation to be more
probable than the Hebrew. The Phalerian Demetrius lived a bufy,
active life, was a great officer of flate, both at home and
abroad, and I do not find that he ever wrote any hiftory. 'Twas
Demetrius the hiftorian therefore, that the Biihop fliould have
quoted ; but he, living in the time that I mentioned, does not
make much to his purpofe ; Shuckford's Counetl. I. 1.
(0) Fid. Cave's Hift. ; Litt. p. 2. in Jofeph. ; and Well's Dif-
fertation upon the Chronicles of Jofephus, p. 19. 21.
(/>) Heidegger's Hift. patriar.
P p 2 Grc
1 84 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A.M. 15 36- Greeks did compute by numerical letters, whereas it is
^k SH; much queftidfeed, that the Hebrews ever did, the miftake
or faliification rather feems to lie on the fide of the Greek
tranflatprsj the very form of whofe letters was more fuf-
ceptible of it.
This is a true ftate of the controverfy, wherein the ar-
guments for the Hebrew computation do certainly prepon-
derate ; though the names, the venerable f names, on the
contrary fide, have hitherto been more numerous.
T< r It might be fome entertainment to the reader, could we
gion. Dut give him any tolerable view of the religion, polity,
and learning, of the antediluvian people : But the Sacred
hiftory, in this refpect, is fo very fhort, and the hints
fuggefted therein, fo very few, and fo very obfcure withal,
that, during this period, we are left, in a great meafure,
in the dark. However, we cannot but obferve, that it is
a miftaken notion of fome authors, who affirm*, that at
the beginning of the world, for almoft 2poo years toge-
ther, mankind lived without any law; without any pre-
cepts, without any promifes from God ; and that the re-
ligion from Adam to Abraham was purely natural, and
fuch as had nothing but right reafon to be its rule and
meafure. The antediluvian difpenfation indeed was, in
the main, founded upon the law of nature ; but ftill it
muft be acknowledged, that there was (as we fhewed be-
fore) a divine precept concerning facrifices ; that there was
a divine promife concerning the blefTed feed ; and that there
were' feveral other precepts and injunctions given the pa-
triarchs, befides thofe that were built upon mere reafon.
The law of facrifices (which confefTedly at this time
obtained) was partly natural, and partly divine. As facri-
fices were tokens of thankfulnefs and acknowledgments,
that the fruits of the earth, and all other creatures, for
•f The names for the Septuagint computation, which the
learned Heidegger, in his Hift. patriar. (as he takes them from Ba-
ronius), has reckoned up, are fuch as there: Theophilus Bifhop of
Aniioch, St Cyprian, Clemens Alexandrinus, Hippolytus, Origin,
Lactantius, Epiphanius, Philaftrms, Orofius, Cyril, the two Ana-
ftafii, Nicephorus, and Suada ; to whom he might add feveral more,
as Heidegger fuggefls; while thofe among the ancients, who con-
tended for the Hebrew calculation, were only St Auftin and St
Jerom, but men of great fkill and proficiency in the Hebrew
^inguage ; Be xtate patriarcharum, exer. 10..
tke
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 185
the ufe and benefit of man were derived from God; theyA. M.ij3<r.
were a fervice dictated by natural reafon, and fo were na- n ' 68<
tural a&s of worfhip : But, as they carried with them Gen. ch. j.
the notion of expiation and atonement for the fouls of and 6. to
mankind, efpecially as they referred to the Meffias, and figni-^er
fied the future facrifice of Chrift, they were certainly infti-
tuted by God, and the practice of them was founded upon
a divine command.
It is not to be doubted, (q) but that Adam inftructed his
children to worfhip and adore God, to commemorate his
goodnefs, and deprecate his difpleafure ; nor can we fup-
pofe, but that they, in their refpedYive families, put his in-
ftructions in execution : And yet we find, that in the days
of Enos, (befides all private devotion) a public form of
worfhip was fet up ; that the people had the rites of their
religion, which God had appointed, fixed, and eftablifhed ;
and that, very probably, as Cain built cities for his de-
fendants to live in, fo Enos might build temples, and
places of divine worfhip, for his to refort to.
The diftinclion of clean and unclean animals was ano-
ther divine injunction under this difpenfation. God refers
Noah to it, as a thing well known, when he commands
him (/-) to put into the ark feven pair of clean, and two of
unclean creatures : And (r) though, in refpecl: of man's food,
this diftinction was not before the law of Mofes, yet fome
beafts were accounted fit, and others unfit for facrifices from
the beginning. The former were efteemed clean, and the
latter unclean : And it feems fafer to make a pofitive law of
God the foundation of this diftinction, than to imagine that
men, in fuch matters as thefe, were left to their own dis-
cretion.
The prohibition of marrying with infidels or idolaters,
was another article of this difpenfation, as appears from.
God's angry refentment when the children of Seth entered
into wedlock with the wicked poff erity of Cain, And, to
mention no more, under this period were given thofe fix
great precepts of Adam (as they are generally called) where-
of the Jewifh doctors make fuch boaft ; * and of thefe the
ift
(g) Edwards's Survey of religion, 1. 1. (r) Gen. vii. 2.
(i) Patrick's Commentary.
* The commandments given to the fons of Noah are the
fame with thefe. They are an abridgment of the whole law of
nature j bat have one pofitive precept annexed to them ; and are
general!)'
i $6 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book!
A.M. rjjij. ift was of ftrange worfhip, or idolatry ; the 2d of curfing
^a"*"' ^ mo^ holy name> or blafphemy ; the 3d of uncovering
Gen. di. 5. the nakednefs, or unlawful copulation ; the 4th of blood-
and 6. to fhed, or homicide ; the 5th of theft and rapine ; and the
Tcr. 13. <5th of judgment, or the administration of juftice in the
^-*v^""~^public courts of judicature. So that from the very firft,
God did not leave him fc If without a ivitnefs (as the Apoftlc
terms it) but, in one degree or other, made frequent mani-
feftations of his will to mankind.
Polity. That government, of one kind or other, is eflential
to the well-being of mankind, feems to be a po'fition *
founded in the nature of things, the relation wherein
men, at firft, ftood towards one another, and the feveral
qualifications in them, which, in a fhort time, could not
but appear. The firft form of government, without all
controverfy, was patriarchal : But this form was foon laid
afide, when men of fuperior parts came once to diftinguifh
' themfelves ; when the head of any family either out-power-
ed or out-witted his neighbour, and fo brought him to
give up his dominion, either by compuliion or refigna-
tion. Government, however, at this time, feems to have
been placed in fewer hands, than it is now : Not that the
number of people was lefs, but their communities were
larger, and their kingdoms more extenfive, than ipnee the
generally placed in this order. " 1. Thou flialt ferve no other gods,
" but the maker only of heaven and earth. 2. Thou flialt remember
*' to ferve the true God, the Lord of the world, by fancufying his
" name in the midft of thee. 3. Thou flialt not fhed the blood of man
" created after the image of God. 4. Thou (halt not defile thy body,
•' -that thou mayeft be fruitful and multiply, and, with a bleffing, re-
" plenilh the earth. 5. Thou ihak be content with that which thine is,
" and what thou wouldft not have done to thyfelf, that thou malt not do
" to another. 6. Thou flialt do right judgment to every one, without
" refpeft to perfons. 7. Thou (halt not eat the flefli in the blood,
f* nor any thing that hath life, with the life thereof." This is the
heptalogue of Noah, or the /even words, which, as the Jews tell
us, were delivered to him and his fons, and were conftantly obferved
by all the nncircumcifed worfhippers of the true God ; Bibliotheca
Bib. occaf. annot. 15. vol. 1.
* To this purpofe Cicero [De legibus, 1. 3. c. 1 ] tells us, that
" Sine imperio, nee domus ulla, nee gens, nee hominum univerfum
■' genus (tare, nee rerum natura onmis, nee ipfe mundus poteft."
Seneca afferts, that " Iftud [imperium] eft vinculum, per quod ref-
" publica cohaeret : Ule fpiritus vitalis, quern hsec tot millia trahunt ;
" nihil ipfa per fe futura, nift onus ct prscda, (\ mens ilia imperii
- " fubtrahatur."
flood;
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. - 187
flood ; (f) infomuch, that it may well be queftioned, whe- A-M JJf34j
ther, after the union of the two great families of Seth and ^ 6%l '
Cain, there was any diftindtion of civil focieties, or diver- Gen. ch. $,
fity of regal governments at all. It feems more likely, thatancl 6- to
all mankind then made but one great nation, living in ayer^_I3_; ,
kind of anarchy, and divided into fevei-al diforderly aflb-
ciations ; which, as it was almoft the natural confequence
of their having, in all probability, but one language ; fo it
was a circumftance which greatly contributed to that ge-
neral corruption which otherwife perhaps could not fo uni-
verfally have prevailed. And for this reafon we may fup-
pofe, that no fooner was the pofterity of Noah fufnciently
increafed, but a plurality of tongues was miraculouily in-
troduced, in order to divide them into diftinct focieties, and
thereby prevent any fuch total depravation for the future.
The enterprifing genius of man began to exert itfelfandthe
very early in mufic, brafs-work, iron-work, and every learning of
fcience, ufeful and entertaining, and the undertakers were ix^^s
nqt limited by a fhort life. They had time enough before
them to carry things to perfection ; but whatever their
fkill, learning, or induftry performed, all remains and
monuments of it have long fince perifhed.
(u) Jofephus indeed gives us this account of Seth's great Seth's pil-
knowledge in aftronomy, and how induftrious he was tolari"
have it conveyed to the new world. " Seth, and his de-
" fcendants," fays he, " were perfons of happy tempers,
" and lived in peace, employing themfelves in the ftudy of
" aftronomy, and in other fearches after uieful knowledge ;
" but, being informed by Adam, that the world fhould
" be twice deftroyed, firft by water, and afterwards by fire,
" they made two pillars, the one of ftone, and the other
" of brick, and inferibed their knowledge upon them, fup-
" poling that the one or other of them might remain for
" the ufe of pofterity." (x) But how ftrangely impro-
bable is it, tha» they, who foreknew that the dcftruclion of
the world fhould be by a Hood, llie^u'd bufy themfelves to
write aftronomical obfervations on pillars, for the benefit of
thoie who fliould live after it ? Could they think, that their
pillars would have fome peculiar exemption, above other
ftrudtures, from the violence and outrage of the waters ?
If they believed that the flood would prove univerfal, for
whofe inftruction did they write their obfervations ? If they
did not, to what end did they write them at all, fince the
(/) Univerf. hift. 1. 1. n. 2. (u) Antiq. 1. 1. c. 2. (x) Stil-
lingfleet's Orig. fac. 1. 1. c. 2.
perfons
1 8 8 The Hiflory of the B I B L £, Book I.
A.M. is3<J. perfons who furvived, might communicate their inventions
Ant. Chnf. to whom they pleafed ? The plain truth is, (y) Jofephus,
Geo* ch s wno frecluent^y quotes Heathen authors, and Manetho in
and 6. to particular, took this ftory of Seth's pillars from the pillars
*er. 13. of Hermes mentioned in that hiftorian : for as the Jews
~~ *~ -J* had an ancient tradition concerning Seth's pillars, Jofephus,
in reading Manetho, might poffibly think his account mif-
applied, and thereupon imagine, that he mould probably
hit on the truth, if he put the account of the one and the
tradition of the other together ; and this very likely might
occafion his miftake.
and E- (z) The Eaftern people have preferved feveral tradi-
noch's pro- tions of very little certainty concerning Enoch. They be-
* cc^' lieve, that he received from God the gift of wifdom and
knowledge to an eminent degree, and that God fent him
thirty volumes from heaven, filled with all the fecrets of the
moft myfterious Icience. St Jude, it is certain, feems to cite
a paffage from a prophecy of his ; nor can it be denied,
but that in the firft ages of Chriffcianity, f there was a book,
well known to the Jews, that went under his name : but
(y) Shuckford's Connection, 1 I. (2) Calmet's Dictionary
on the word Enoch.
•f- Jofeph Scaliger, in bis annotations upon Eufebius's Chronicon,
has given us fome coniidcrable fragments of it, which Heidegger,
in his hill. Patriarch, has tranflated into Latin, which the curious,.
if they think proper, may confult : but the whole feems to be
nothing but a fabulous collection of fome Jew or other, moft
unworthy the holy patriarch. Tertullian, however, has defended
it with great warmth, and laments much, that all the world is
not as zealous as himfelf, in the maintenance of its authenticalnefs.
He pretends, that it had been faved by Noah in the ark, from
thence tranfmitted down to the church, and that the JewsJ in
his days, rejected it, only becaufe they thought it was favourable
to ChrifHanity ; Miller's hiflory of the church, and Sattriiis
Dictations. The great objections againft this* book are, that
neither Philo, nor Jofephus, (thofe diligent fearchers into antiqui-
ty), make any mention of it; and that it contains fuch fabulous
ftories as are monftrous and abfurd. But to this fome have an-
fvvered, that fuch a book there certainly was, notwithstanding the
filence of thefe Jewifh antiquaries ; and that, after the apoftles
time, it might be corrupted, and many things added to it by
fucceeding heretics, who might take oecafion from the anti-
quity thereof, and from the paffage of Michael's contending with
the devil about the body of Mofes, to interpolate many fables
and inventions of their own ; Raleigh's Hiflory of the -world,
befides
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. loo
befides that this piece is now generally given up for fparious, ^ M ■ ' » i \s
there is no need for us to fuppofe, that St Jude ever quoted ' '.sa_ "
any paffage out of this, or any other book of Enoch. Gen. ch. j.
(a) Enoch was a prophet, we are told, and as fach, *n<* 6- t0
was inverted with authority, to cry aloud, and f pare not,
to reprove the wicked, and denounce God's judgments
againft them ; and as he was a good man, it was eafy
for St Jude to imagine, that he would not lit ftill, and
fee the impieties of the people grow fo very exorbitant, with-
out endeavouring to reprefs them, by fetting before them
the terrors of the Lord. He could not difcharge the of-
fice of a good nian, and a prophet, without forewarning
them of the (b) Lord's coming, with ten thou/and of his
faints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that
ivere ungodly among them ; and becaufe this was his office
and duty, the Apoflle infers, (as by the Spirit of God he
might certainly know), that he did lb, though he might not
make that inference from any paffage in his prophecy ; bj-
caufe it is a known obfervation, that f many tilings are al-
luded to it in the New Teftament, which were never per-
haps in any book atall.
Of all the ftrange matters that occur in this period of Thelonge-
time, there is nothing which looks fo like a prodigy as thevit^ ?•,
longevity of thofe men who at firft inhabited the earth ; vians ;
nor is any event fo apt to affect us with wonder, as the
difproportion between their lives and ours. We think it a
great thing, if we chance to arrive at fourfcore, or an hun-
dred years; whereas they lived to the term of 7, 8, y
hundred, and upwards, as appears * by the joint teftimo-
ny
(a) Heideggar's Hilt, patriar. (h) Jude ver. 14. 15".
f There are "many inltances in the New Teftament of facls al-
luded to, which we do not find in any ancient books. Thus (lit
tomtit between Michael and the devil is mentioned, as if the
Jews had, fome where or other, a full account of it. The names
<*» the Egyptians, Jannes, and Jambres, are let down, the.
they are no where found in Mol'cs's hiftory. St Paul tells us, that
Moles exceedingly quaked and feared on mount Sinai; bat wc do
not find it lb recorded any where in the Old Teftament. In all thefe
cafes, the apoftles and holy writers hinted at things,, commonly
received as true by tradition among the Jews, without transcri-
bing them from any real book ; Shuckford' s Connexion, I. r.
* Manetho, who wrote the ftory of the Egyptians; Bereft!?,
who wrote the Chaldean hiftory ; thofe authors, who give us
account of the Phoenician antiquities; and among the Greeks,
VoL. L Ctq Hefiodus,
1 90 The Hiffory of the BIBLE, Book I,
A.M. iS3<J-ny both of facred and profane hiftdry. The only fufpiciorc
' cg ' 'that can arife in our minds upon this occafion, is, that the
Gen. ch. 5. computation might poffibly be made, not according to folar,
but lunar years ; but this, inftead of folving the difficulty,
(runs us into feveral grofs abfurdities.
The fpace of time, between the creation and the flood,
i:. ulaaliy computed to be 1656 years, which, if we fuppofe
to be lunar, and converted into common years, will amount
to Jittle more than 127; too lhort an -interval, by much,
to flock the world with a fufHcient number of inhabitants.
From one couple we can fcarce imagine, that there could
arife 500 perfons in fo fhort a time ; bat fuppofe them a
thoufand, they would not be fo many as we fometimes have
in a good country village. And were the flood gates of
heaven opened, and the great abyfe broken up, to deftroy
fuch an handful of people ? were the waters raifed fifteen,
cubits above the higheif mountains, throughout the face of
the whole earth, to drown a parifh or two .? This certainly
is- more incredible than the longeft age which the Scrip-
tures afcribe to the patriarchs : befides that, this fhort inter-
val leaves no room for ten generations, which we find from
Adam to the flood ; nor does it allow the patriarchs age
enough, (feme of them, upon this fjppofition, muft not be
above five years ohi), when they are laid to beget children.
It is generally allowed, and may indeed be proved by the
teftimony of Scripture, that our firffc fathers lived confide-
rably longer, than any of their pofterity have done fince ;
but according to this hypothefis, (which depreffes the lives
of the antediluvians, not only beiow thofe who lived next
the flood, but even below all following generations to this.
day), Methufelah, who was always accounted the oldeifc
man fince the creation, did but reach to the age of 75, and
Abraham, who is faid to have died in a good old age, was-
not completely 1 5.
The patrons cf this opinion therefore would do well to
tell us, when we are to break off this account of lunar
years in the facred hiftory. If they will have it extended no
farther than the iicod, they make the poftdiluvian fathers
lonrvr-iived than the antediluvian, but will be puzzled to
affign a reafon, why the deluge fhould occafion longevity.
If they will extend it to the poitdiluvians likewife, they
Hefiodus, Hecarens, Kdlanicus, Epiiornc, ire. d.o unariiinonfly
agree, thct in the firft ages of-tbe world, men- lived a tioofand
yeaisj, RurKel's Tfasrjr, i 2,.-. a.
will
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 191
will then be intangled in worfe difficulties ; for they will A. M.
make their lives raiferably fhort, and their, age. of getting \5\6 '£%
children altogether incongruous and irnpolhr)!e. 24,53. &.c.
From the whole therefore we may conclude, that the pen. ch. %.
years whereby Moles reckons the lives of the antedii-a-'1" to
vians, were folar years, much of the fame length with what ._ \ '. _j
we now ufe ; and that therefore there muft be a reaibn,
either in their manner of life, their bodily conftjtution,
the temperament of the world wherein they lived, or
(what is moft likely) the particular vouchfafement of God,
to give them this mighty, .this lingular advantage above
us.
Some have imputed this extraordinary length of life in andtnerea-
thc antediluvians to the fobriety of. their living, and fim-fons tcr lC-
plicity of their diet ; that they eat no fiefh, and had no
provocations to gluttony, which wit and vice have fince
invented, (c) This indeed might have ibme effect, but
not poffibly to the degree we now fpeak of; fmce there
have been many moderate and abftemious people in all
ages, who have not furpaffed the common period of life.
Others have afcribed it to the excellency of the fruits,
and Ibme unknown quality in the herbs and plants of thofe
days : but the earth, we know, was curfed immediately
after the fall, and its fruits, we may fuppofe, gradually de-
creafed in their virtue and goodnefs, until the time of the
flood ; and yet we do not fee, that the length of men's
lives decreafed at all during that interval.
Others therefore have thought, that the long lives of
the men of the old world proceeded from the ftrength
Xi£ their ftamina, or lirft principles of their bodily confii-
tution ; which, if they were equally ftrong in us, would.
maintain us, as they think, in being, as long : but though
it be granted, that both the ftrength and ftature of their
bodies were greater than ours, and that a race of ftrong
men, living long in health, will have children of a pro
portionably ftrong confritution ; yet, that this was not the
ible and adequate caufc of their longevity, we have one
plain inftance to convince us, viz. that Shem, who was
born before the deluge, and had in his body all the virtue
«f an antediluvian conftitution, fell 300 years lhorr of the
age of his forefathers, becaufe the greateft part of his life
paffed after the flood.
(r) Burnet's Theory of the earth, 1. 2 c. 4.
O^q 2 The
3 5 2 The Hiffory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. The ingenious theorift whom I have quoted, for this
Ant^Ch/if realon' imagines, that before the flood, the fituation of
»458, &c. the earth to the fun was direct and perpendicular, and not,
Gen. ch. ^.as it is now, inclined and oblique. From this pofition he
infers, that there was a perpetual equinox all the earth o-
;ver, and one continued fpring ; and thence concludes, thas
the equality of the air, and liability of the feafons were the
true caiifes of the then longevity ; whereas the change, and
obliquity o± the earth's pofture, occafioned by the deluge,
altered the form of the year, and brought in an equality
of feafons, which caufed a feniible decay in nature, and a
gradual contraction in human life.
His reafoning upon this point is very elegant. " There
" is no queftion," fays he, " but every thing upon earth,
'* and efpecially the animate world, would be much more-
" permanent, if the general courfe of nature was more
" ileady, and more uniform. A liability in the heavens
" makes a liability in all things below; and that change,
" and contrariety of qualities which we have in thefe re-
" gions, is the fountain of corruption — --the aether in
" their little pores, the air in their greater, and the va-
" pours and atmofphere that furround them, fhake, and
" unfettle their texture and continuity ; whereas, in a fixed
" ftate of nature, where thefe principles have always the
'* fame conftant and uniform motion, a long and lafting
" peace enfues, without any violence, either within, or
" without, to difcompofe them. We fee, by daily expe-
" rience," continues he, " that bodies are kept better in
" the fame medium, (as we call it), than when they are
*' fometimes in the air, and fometimes in the water, moift
'« and dry, hot and cold, by turns ; becaufe thefe different
" ftates weaken the contexture of their parts. But our
" bodies, in the prefent ftate of nature, are put in an
" hundred different mediums, in the courfe of a year ;
" the winds are of a different nature, and the air of a
'*' different weight and preffure, according as the wea-
" ther and feafons affeel: them. All thefe things are
" enough to wear out our bodies foon, very foon, in
'i comparifon of what they would laft, if they were al-
" ways iricompafled with one and the fame medium, and
" that medium were always of one and the fame tern-
This is all very pretty : but the author's grand mif-
jtafce is, that it was not fo in the primitive earth! He has
i/.: ^utliprity to Ihow, that how high foever the water;,
might
Chap. V. from the Creation to the Flood. 193
might fwell at the deluge, the centre of the earth gave way, a. M.
cr the foundations of the round world were Jbahen, The'5 3<5, &c.
earth, no doubt, had, before, as well as after the flood, an Antg c^nf*
annual as well as a diurnal motion, (d) It ftood to the Gen.'ch. e,
fun'- in the fame oblique pofture and iltuation, and was and 6. to
. confequently fubjecT: to the fame feafons and viciffitudesver- I3'
that the prefent earth is ; and if the air was more mild,
and the elements more favourable at that time, this we may
account the peculiar bleffing of God, and not the refult of
die earth's pofition to the fun, or any fancied liability in
the weather. The truth is, whatever we may attribute to
fecond caufes, why bodies that are naturally mortal and
corruptible fhould fubfifl fo long in the primitive ages of
the world ; yet the true caufe of all is to be afcribed to the
will of God, who impregnated our firft parents with fuch.
vigour, and gave their pofterity for fome time fuch robuft
conftitutions, as depended not upon the nature of their
diet, the {lability of die feafons, or the temperature of the
air. After the flood, God foon made a fenfible change
in the length of man's days. For, perceiving the general
iniquity to increafe again, and thereupon defigning to
make an alteration in the world's continuance, he haftened
the period of human life, that the number of fouls he in-
tended to fend into the world before the confummation of
all things, might have a fpeedier probation. Man's age
accordingly went on finking by degrees, until a little be-
fore David's time, it came to be fixed at what has been the
common ftandard ever fince. (e) The days of our age are
threefcore years and ten ; and though men befoflrong, that
they come to fourfcore years, yet is their Jlrength then but
labour and for row, fo foon pajfeth it away, and we are gone.
This is our dated period ; and therefore for us, who live
in this poftdiluvian world, and have the term of our trial
fo much fllortened, the fubfequcnt prayer of the devout
Pfalmift will always be neceilary, always fcafonable ;
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts untowifdom.
(d) Vid. Kcill's Examination of Burnet's theory, (c ) PfaL
xc. 10.
e 11 a p.
The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
CHAP. VL
Of the deluge.
The History.
OD (as we faid before) had given mankind a repri-
val for an hundred and twenty years ; but when he
fkw that all his lenity and forbearance tended to no pur-
pofe, except it was to make them more bold and licentious
in their fins, he declared to his fervant Noah, that within
a fhort time his refolution was to deftroy them, and
Avith them all other creatures upon the face of the earth,
by a flood of waters ; but J afliired him at the fame time,
that lince he had comported himfelf better, and approved
his fidelity to his maker, he would take care to preferve
him and his family, and whatever other creatures were
% The words in our tranflation are, With thee will I eflablifj?
my covenant : but I ft, by the word covenant, we are not here to
uuderftand a mutual compact or agreement, but only a fimple and
gracious promife, as it is likcwife ufed, Numb, xviii. 19. xxv. 12.
snd in feveral other places ; which promife, though only men-
tioned here, was doubtlefs made before, as may eafily be gather-
ed from both thefe words, and fume foregoing pafTages, and from
the neceffity that Noah mould have fome fuch fupport and encou-
ragement during all the time of his miniftry. adly, This cove-
nant of God might relate to his fending the promifed feed, and re-
demption of mankind by the Meflias; and in this fenfe will im-
port, that as the Meflias was to come out of Noah's loins, fo the
divine providence would take care to preferve him alive. But,
3d!y, A learned and Right Reverend author is of opinion, that this
covenant of God relates to his reinftating the earth in its primitive
fertility in Noah's lifetime. To which purpofe he obferves, that
as foon as the flood was over, God declares, I will not curfe again
the ground any more for man s fake : from which declaration it
appears, (fays he), ift, That the flood was the efTecl of that curfe
which was denounced againft the earth for man's fake ; and 2dly,
That the old curfe was fully executed and accompliihed in the
:fiood ; in confequence of which, a new blefling is immediately
pronounced upon the earth, Gen. viii. 22. While the earth remain-
eth, feed-time, and harveli, and cold, and heat, and fummer and
winter, and day and night, fhall not ceafe ; Fool's Annot. and
l?;ihop Sherlock's Ufe and intent of prophecy.
neceiTary
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the FIoocJ. 195
neceflary for the reftoration of their fpecies from the ge- A- M.
neral calamity. _ ^ Ant. ChriC
To this purpofe he gave him orders to build a kind of 2340, &c.
vefTel, not in the form of fhips now in ufe, but rather in-from Gen.
dining to the fafhion of a J large cheft or ark, and him- ix' '^"
felf prefcribed the plan whereby he was to proceed. n^— ^-^j
That to make the vefTel firm and ftrong, and able to en- The make
dure the preffure of the waves, the wood moft proper fcfrJjSj^J^
that purpofe J fhould be cyprefs ; and that to prevent the
waves from penetrating, or the fun from cracking it, as
well
% The word thebath, which we render ark, is only read here,
and in another place, where Mofes, when an infant, is faid to have
been put into one made of bulrulhes, Exod. ii. 3. It is fuppofed
to come from a root which fignifies to dwell or inhabit ; and may
therefore here denote a houfe, or place of abode. And indeed,
if we confider the ufe and defign, as well as the form and figure
of this building, we can hardly fuppofe it to be like an ark or
cheft, wherein we ufually ftore lumber, and put things out of the
Way ; but rather like a farm-houfe, fuch as are in feveral coun-
tries where the cattle and people live all under one roof. As foon
as men began to hew down timber, and to join it together, for
the purpofe of making houfes, nothing can be fuppofed a more
fimple kind of edifice than what was made rectangular, with a
bottom or floor, to prevent the dampnefs of the ground ; a doping
cover or roof to carry oft" the rain that lhould fall ; flails and cab-
bins for the lodgement of man and beaft ; and, to keep out wind
and weather eifeclually, a coat of bitumen or pitch. Of this
kind was this building of Noah's, and may therefore rather be
termed a place of abode, than an ark or cheft, properly fo called ;
he Clerc's Ccmment. in locum.
% The timber whereof the ark was framed Mofcs calls ge-
pher-iuood; but what tree this gopher was, is not a little con-
troverted. Some will have it to be cedar, others the pine, others
the box, and others (particularly the Mahometans) the Indian
plane-tree ; but our learned Fuller, in his Mifccllanies, has ob-
ferved, that it was nothing e!fe but that whkh the Greeks call
Kvxapurc-of , 0r the cyprefs-trce ; f»r, taking away the termination,
iupar and gopher differ very little in the found. This obfer-
vation the great Bochart has confirmed, and' (hewn very plainly,
that no country abounds fo much with this wood as that pare
of AfTyria which lies about Babylon. And to this we may add
the observation of Thecphraftus, who, fpeaking of trees that
arc lcaft fubject to decay,' makes the cyprefs- tree the moft du-
rable of all ; for which Vitruyius gives us this reafon, viz. that
the
i96 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, • Book I.
A.M. well as to fecure it from worms, and make it glide more
An^Chrif. eafy uPon tne water, his bufinefs would be, as foon as it
a349, &e. was fmifhed, f to pitch it, or rather fmear it all over with
from Gen. bitumen, (whereof there was plenty in the country), both
yi. iz. to wjt}1jn anj without ; that, to make its proportion regular,
i its length mould be fix times more than its breadth, and
ten times more than its height; and, to give it capacity
enough, the firft of thefe mould be f 300 cubits, that is,
in our meafure, 450 feet; the fecond 50 cubits, or 75
feet ; and the third 30 cubits, or 45 feet ; that to make
it commodious for the reception of every thing, it was to
conlift of three ftories or decks, of equal height each, and
each divided into ftalls and apartments proper for the
things that were to be put into it ; that for turning off*
the rain, the roof was to be made Hoping ; that for letting
in of light, * there were windows to be fo and fo difpofed,
o»
the fap, which is in every part of the wood, has a peculiar bitter
tafte, and is fo very oftenfive, that no worm or other corroding
animal will touch it; fo that fuch works as arc made of this wood
will in a manner laft for ever. V'td. Univerf. hi/}. % Patrick's
Comment.', Bochart's Pbaleg. /. 1. c. 4. ; and Bedford's Scrip.
chronol. I. 1. c. 9.
f The Arabic tranflation fays exprefsly, pitch it with pitch,
but the bitumen (which was plentiful in that country, and, as o-
thers think, intended here) was of the fame nature, and ferved
to the fame ufe as pitch, being glutinous and tenacious, and pro-
per to keep things together ; Patrick's Comment.
f A cubit is the meafure from the elbow to the fingers end,
containing fix hands-breadths, or a foot and an half: fo that 300
cubits make exactly 4 jo feet There are fome however who
take thofe for geometrical cubits, every one of which contain fix
of the common ; but there is no need for any fuch computation,
fince, taking them for common cubits, it is riemonftrable (as will
appear hereafter) that there might be room enough in the ark for
all forts of hearts and birds, together with Noah's family, and their
neceiTary proviiion ; Ai'ifworth' s Sinnct. ; and Patrick's Com-
ment.
* There are various translations of the word zohar, which
occurs but once in the whole Bible in this fenfe. It feems to be
derived from a root in the Chaldee, which figriifies to /bine, or
give U^ht*; and therefore our verlion renders it a window ; but
rf fo, it mult be collective, and mean fcveral windows, bc-
caufc it i • not likely that there Ihould be but one in fo vaft a
budding : a from the following words, in a cubit /bait thou
f.w/b it above, fome have fiippo&d, that the window was to
be
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the FIooJ. 197
f or fome other conveniency anfwerable to them ; and ^. rt.
that, for the mora eafy induction of the many things it r<5*ff, &c.
was to contain, a door or entry -port was to be made in its Ant- chn<*-
fide. i349' &c'
Thefe were the instructions which God gave Noah, vi. tx, to
who accordingly went to work, and being affiited with theix- Ho-
llands of his family, (for f the reft of the world doubtlefs de- L — */~!'— **
rided him), in the time that was appointed him, and feven t0 bee ta'^
days before the rain began to fall, * he had completed the into it.
whole.
be a cubit fquare, or but a cubit high, which would have been
much too fmall. But the relative // being, in the Hebrew, of the
feminine gender, and zohar of the mafculine, thefe two words
cannot agree; and therefore the proper antecedent fecms to be
the ark, which was covered with a roof raifed a cubit high in
the middle. This however, in the original, may fignify no
more than an injunction to build the ark by the cubit, as the
common meafure, by which the work was to be marked our
and directed. Vid.lJniverf. hift.; Sauriri 's Dijfert ': ; andLamy's
Introduction.
f What that other conveniency was, we (hall have occafioa
to (hew when we come to treat of the word zohar, (which we
here render window), in anfwer to the fubfequent objection-
f The Apoftle to the Hebrews (xi. 7.) mentions Noah's build-
ing the ark as an heroic act of faith : By faith Noah, fays lie,
being warned of Cod of things not feen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark, to the faving of his houfe, by which he conde?nned
the wtrld, and became heir of the righteoufnefs which is by faith :
for we may well imagine, that this work of his was not only
coftly and laborious, but efteemed bv the generality very foolifh
and ridiculous ; efpecially when they faw all things continue in the
fame pofture and fafcty for fo many fcores of years together;
whereby Noah, without doubt, became all that while the foil"- of
drunkards, and the fport of the wits of the age; Pool's Annot.
The Mahometans have a tradition, that when he began to work
upon this famous veiTel, all that faw him derided him, and faid,
'* You arc building a lhip ; if you can bring water to it, you will
" be a prophet, as well as a carpenter;" but he made anfwer to
thefe infults, " You laugh at me now, but I (ball have my turn to
'* laugh at you ; for at your own colt you will learn, that there
** is a God in heaven who punilhes the wicked ;" Ca/met's Difi.
on the word Noah.
* It is fomewhat ftrange, that the torrent of interpreters
fliould fuppofe, that Noah was 120 years about this work, when
he gives no intimation to that purpofe, but fufhcknt reafons to
Vol. I. R r believe*
1 9 8 The Hidory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. whole. Whereupon God gave him inftructions, that he
*6nst6 cfj/f fhould take into the ark every living thing of all fleih,
,349) 'frc, both cattle, and brails of the field, birds, and fowls of
from firen. the air, and reptiles of all kinds ; f of the unclean, one
pair
<.X. t9
believe, that he was not near fo long as is imagined. It is plain
from Scripture, that he was 500 years old when he begat Shem,
Hatn, and Japhet •, (Gen. v. 32.) and that when he received the
command for building the ark, the fame fons were married, for
the text fays exprefsly, Thou J}) alt come into the ark, thou, and
thy fons, and thy wife, and thy fons wives with thee, (Gen. vi.
18 ) So that all the time between the birth and marriage of the
faid fons muft at leaft be fuppofed to intervene before the com-
mand to build the ark was given ; and between the command and
the execution of it rnuft not be fo long as is imagined, without a
concurrence of miracles, to prevent that parr of it which was firft
built from being rotten and decayed before the laft part of it was
finifhed ; Sam in s DiJJsrf. In what place Noah built and finished
his ark, is no lefs made a matter of difputation. One fuppofes
that he built it in Paleftine, and planted the cedars whereof he
made it in the plains of Sodom : another takes it to have been
built near. mount Caucafus, on the confines of India ; and a third, '
in China, where he imagines Noah dwelt before the flood. But
the moft probable opinion is, that it was built in Chaldea, in the
territories of Babylon, where there was fo great a quantity of cy-
prels in the groves and gardens, in Alexander's time, that that
prince built a whole fleet out of it, for want of other timber.
And this conjcelure is confirmed by the Chaldean tradition, which
makes Xifuthms (another name for Noah) fet fail from that coun-
try. Vid. Univerf. bift. /.I. c- r.
■f The diltinclion between beads that were clean and unclean,
being made by the law, has given fome a colour to imagine,
that Mofes wrote this book after his coming out of Egypt, and
receiving the law: but to this it may be anfwered, that though,
with refpect to man's food, the diftinclion of clean and un-
clean was not before the law, yet fome were accounted fit for
facrifices, and others unfit, from the very firft beginning ; and
then unclean beafts, in this place, muff denote fuch as are rapa-
cious, which were not to be offered to God. In fliort, fince the
rite of ficriiicing was before the flood, we may very well be
allowed to fnppofe, that this diftinclion was alfo before it; and
to fuppofe farther, that as the rite was undoubtedly of God's
inftitution, fo the difference of clean and unclean creatures to
be facrificed was of his appointment likewife. But there is a
farther doubt ariiing from this paffage, and that is. ■whether
there
Chap, VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 109
pair only, but of the clean feven pah* ; that when the ge- A. M.
neral defolation was over, they might increafe again, and*6*5' i7C;
replenifh the earth ; and that when everything was thus,"' ^Ct
fettled and difpofed of, himfelf and his family fhould like- from Gen.
wife go into the ark, and take up their apartments. yi u,. to
Purfuant to thefe directions, Noah and his family1"' *°'_ t
went into the ark, (leaving the reft of the world in their ^ fhort de-
fecurity and fenfuality), in the 600th year of his age, fcripti n of
much * about the middle of September; when, inafewtlie fiood-
days after, (a) the whole face of nature began to put on
a difmal afpecl:, as if the earth were to miter a final dif-
folution, and all things return to their primitive chaos,
** The cataracts of heaven were opened, the abyfs of
waters,
there went into the ark but feven of every clean, and two of every
unclean fpecies, or fourteen of the frrft, and two of the laft.
Some adhere to the former expofition, but others to the latter,
which feems to be the natural fenfe of the Hebrew words, feven
and feven, and two and two Bcfides, if there were but (cych
of the clean hearts, one mud have been without a mate : and if it
be fuggefled, that the odd one was for facrifice, it is more than
Mofes tells us, who, on the contrary, repeats it, that the animals
all went in by pairs; Patrick's Commentary ; Poo/' s Annotations ;
and Univerfal Hijlory, c. I.
* The words in the text are, In the fecond month ; but, for
the better underflanding of this, we muft remember, that the
year among the Hebrews was of two kinds; the one ecclcfiafti-
cal, which began in March, and chiefly regarded the obferva-
tion of their falls and feflivals, of which we read Exbd. xii. 2.
and the other civil, for the better regulating of mens political af-
fairs, which began in September. Accordingly the fecond month
is thought by fome to be part of April, and part of May, the mod:
pleafant part of the year, and when the flood was leafi expecled,
and leafl feared ; but by others, part cf October, and part of No-
vember, a little after that Noah had gathered in the fruits of the
. earth, and laid them up in the ark •• lb that the flood came in
with the winter, and was by degrees dried up in the following
fummer. And this opinion feems to be more probable, becaufe
the mofh ancient, and firft beginning of the year, was in Septem-
ber ; and the other beginning of the year in March was but a
later inflitution among the Jews, with refpccl to their feflivals and
other facred affairs, which are not at all concerned here;
Pout's Annotations.
(a) Howell's Complete hiftory.
** Ovid, who is fuppofed to have extracted moft of the be-
ginning of his Metamorphofes out of the facred records, ha3
R r 2 dcfcrlbcrf
2co The Hiftory of the BIBLE,- Book I.
A. M. waters in the centre of the earth poured out, and the fea,
\Jt'r^^ ■forgetting its bounds, overfpread the earth with a dread-
&C ful inundation.
Too late does wretched man perceive the approach of
his deferved fate ; and in vain does he find out means for
i his prefervation. The tops of the hills, the tallefl trees,
the ftrongeft towers, the loftieft mountains, can give him
no relief ; it is but a imall reprieve at moft that they can
yield him ; for as the waters fwell, and the waves come
rufhing on, hills, trees, towers, mountains, and every little
refuge, muffc difappear with him. Noah himfelf cannot
help him. Though he might now remember his predic-
tions, and fo flee to him for fuccour, yet God has ihut the
door of the ark, and it cannot be opened : (b) and fo it
fhall be to every one, at the laft great day, who fhall not be
found in Chrift, the only ark of our falvation.
Its rife, Yor forty days and nights together, without the lean:
intermiffion, did the clouds continue raining ; when at
length the ark began to float, and to move from place to
place as the waves drove it. And though there might be
ibme fhort cefiations afterwards, yet, at certain intervals
the rain continued falling, and the waters fwelling, till in
prcceis of time, the flood began to cover the mountains,
defcribed both the induction and retreat of the waters in a manner
very conformable to the original, from whence he had them.
Their induction thus :
Madidis Notus evolat alis,
Terribilem picea. tecltis caligine vultum
Utque manu lata, pendentia nubila prefiit :
Fit fragor : hinc denfi funduntur ab sethere nimbi.
Ipfe tridente ftio terrain percuffit: at ilia
Intremuit, motuque finus patefecit aquarum.
Expatiata rnant per apertos flamina campos,
Cumqne fails, arbufta fimnl, pecudefque, virofque,
Tectaquc, cumque fuis rapiunt penetralia facris, ire.
Their retreat thus :
Nubila disjecit, nimbifque Aquilone remotis,
£t ccelo terras oftendk, et sethera terris
Jam mare littushabet: plenos capit alveus amnes :
r'lumina fubfidunt : colles exire videntur :
Surgit humus : crefcunt loca decrefcentibus undis.
Poftque diem Ion gum nudata cacumina fylvse
Oflendunt, hmumque tenent in fronde rclictum. Lib. I.
(b) Miller's Hiftory of the church; Patrick's Commentary ;
and Pool's Annotations.
and,
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 201
and, by a gradual increafe, came at laft to raife its furface A- M.
fifteen cubits (above twenty -two feet of our meafure) high- Am.'chrif.
cr than the tops of the higheft of them. 2349, &c.
In this elevation the flood continued until the latter fr.om Gen-
end of March : when, as one friend is apt to remember^' ^j
another in diftrefs, (the Scripture here fpeaks in the ftyle %mm _ y-^j
of men), fo God, reflecting upon Noah, and the poor re- and de-
mains of his creation, floating in the ark, caufed a drying creafe.
north wind to arife, the flood-gates of heaven to be
flopped, and the irruption of the waters out of the womb
of the earth to ceafe ; by which means the deluge began
to abate, and the waters fubiide, fo that in a fhort time,
the ark, which muft have drawn great depth of water,,
ftuck on a mountain, named Ararat, and there refted ;
and not long after, the tops of other mountains began to
appear.
This happened in the beginning of May, when the fum- T1\c raven
mer was coming on apace : but Noah, wifely confidering, feQt
that although the mountains were bare, the valleys might
ftill be overflowed, waited forty days longer before he at-
tempted any farther difcovery ; and then f opening the
window,
f It is very obfervable, that the words which we render
window, in ch. 6. ver. 16. and ch. 8. ver. 6. of Genefis, are
far from being the fame : in the former place, the word is zohar,
(the nature of which we mall have a proper occalion to explain),
in the latter, it is hhalon, which fignifies indeed an oval hole or
•window in any building, but here is a window of a peculiar
denomination. That it was cuftomary among the Jews to have
a room in the upper part of their houfes let apart for di-
vine worlhip, in Hebrew called Beth-alijah, or fimply alijah,
in Greek SxtpSov, and in Latin oratorium; and that in this
place of prayer, there was always an hhalon, an hole or win-
dow, which pointed to the kibla, or place whereumo they di-
rected their worlhip, is evident from fevcral pallages in Scrip-
ture. Among the Jewilh conftitutions, in the code, called
Beracoth, there is a certain canon grounded upon this cuftom,
viz. That no man Jhall pray, but in a room where there is an
hhalon opening towards the ho!)' city : and of Daniel it is par-
ticularly related, that when he knew that the decree for his de-
flrucYion was figned, he went into the houfe, and his hhalon, his
window, being open in his chamber towards Jerufalem, he kneeled
upm his knees three times a day, as he did ajbretime, Dan. vi.
lo. for that this was not a common window, but one dedicated
to religious worlhip, is plain from the people's difecniing, by
» its
202 The Hiftory of the B IB L E, Book I.
A. M. window, he let go a raven, as fuppofing that the fmell o£
1656, ire. dead bodies would allure him to fly a good diftance from
* ^ ' the vefTel ; but the experiment did not do: the raven,
fiom' Gen. after feveral unfuccefsful flights, finding nothing but wa-
yi. iz. to ter, returned to the ark again. Seven days after this, he
.let fly a dove, a bird of a ftrong pinion, and, from the re-
moteffc places, always accuftomed to come home, and there-
fore proper to make farther difcoveries. But fhe finding
nothing but water likewife, immediately returned to the
ark, and was taken in. After this he waited feven days
more, and then fent her forth again ; .and fhe, in the e-
vening, brought in her mouth an olive-branch, the emblem
of peace, and a token to Noah that the waters were abated
much. Whereupon he waited feven days more, and then
let her fly the third time ; but fhe finding the waters gone,
and the earth dry, returned no more ; fo that he was now
thinking of uncovering the roof, and going out of the ark
himfelf ; but having a pious regard to the divine provi-
dence and direction in all things, he waited five and fifty
days longer, and then received orders from God for him
and his family to quit the vefTel, but to take care at the
fame time that every other creature fhould be brought
forth with him.
Thus ended * Noah's long and melancholy confine-
ment ; which, by a due computation from the time of
his
its being open, that he was at prayers. Nor is it improbable
that this window might have fame vilible fign, either of the name
of God, or of the holy city, or of the fancluary, or the like, in-
fcribed on it ; becanfe it is a conftant tradition, thatthefe oratories
or rooms for prayer were always f< > made as to have their angles
anfwer to fnch certain points of the heaven, and to have the mark
of adoration fo evidently diftinguiflied, that none might miftake it,
if they call but their eye upon the wall. Now, as the practice
among the Jews of worfhipping in upper rooms, with their faces
towards a bole or window in the wall, was never introduced by
any pofitive law, and yet univerfally prevailed, it is reafonable to
believe, that at rirft it was derived from Noah, and that the win-
dows in their oratories were made in imitaiion of this hhaion, or
point of adoration in the ark ; Biblhthcca Biblkay vol. 2. ; Oc-
saf. /!nmt. in the appe?idix.
* Mr Baihage [in his Antiq. Jndaiq. torn. 2. p. "00-] has
given us the kalendar of this melancholy year of Noah's con-
finement.
The
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 203
his going into the ark, to that of his coming out, was ex- a. M.
ac~Uv the fpace of a folar year. itfje, &c
} r ' Ant. Chrif.
The Objection. from Gen.
vi. 1 a. to
" "D^^, grant'ng (c) rhat a vefTel, fafhioned accordingly. %o.
" £3 to the defcription which Mofes gives us of the'
*' flrudture of the ark, could live (as the feamen phrafe it)
The year of the -world's creation 1 656.
Month.
I. September. Methufelah died at the age of 969 years.
II. Oftober. Noah and his family entered the ark.
Ill November the 1 7th. The fountains of the great deep were
broken open.
IV. December the 26th. The rain began, and continued forty
days and forty nights
V. January. All the men and beafts that were upon the
earth were buried under the waters.
VI February. The rain continued.
VII. March. The waters remained in their elevation till the
27th, when they begau to abate.
VIII. April the 17th. The ark reded on Mount Ararat.
IX May. 1 hey did nothing while the waters were retreating.
X. Jjne the ill. The tops of the mountains appeared.
XI July the rtth. Noah let go a raven, which (as Befnagt
thinks) returned to him no more.
The 1 8th. He let go a dove, which returned.
The 25th. He let go the dove again, which returned with
an olive-branch.
XII. Auguft the 2d. The dove went out the third time, and
returned no more.
I. September the ift. The dry land appeared.
II. October the 27th. Noah went out of the ark with his fa-
mily. During this long continuance in the ark, the form of
prayer, which fome oriental writers make Noah to have offered
unto God, runs in this manner: " O Lord, thou art truly great,
'* and there is nothing fo great as that it can be compared to
" thee ; look upon us with an eye of mercy, and deliver us
" from the deluge of waters. I intreat this of thee for the
" love of Adam, thy fhit nvin ; for the love of Abel, thy
*' faint; for the righteoufnefs of Seth, whom thou haft loved.
'•' Let us not be reckoned in the number of thofe, who have dif-
" obeyed thy commandments ; but ftill extend thy merciful
" care to us, becaufe thou haft hitherto been our deliverer, and
" all thy creatures (hall declare thy praife. Amen ; " Calmefs
Viftiouary on the words Deiug: and Noah.
(f) Parker's Bibliotheca JBiblica, vol. 1. part 1. Occaftonal
Armotat. 12,
204 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
in fuch a ternpeft of waters fo long together; yet what
can we think would become of Noah and his family,
with all the feveral kinds of birds, beafts, and reptiles,
(d) flowed up, all this while, in a clofe hutch, without
the leaft breath of frefh air ? How could they fee to go
about their bufinefs (and certainly they had bufinefs
enough, to attend fuch a multitude of creatures) when
they muft have lived all this while, without the leaft
light either of fun, moon, or the ftars ? And in this
ftate of darknefs, wherein day and night to them were
both alike, how could they poffibly meafure time, or
tell the precife number of the months and days, that
they had continued in the ark I
" The ark indeed, according to the defcription of
Mofes, was a large building : But had it been ten times
larger, it could never have contained the feveral couples
of all kinds, which were ordered to be brought into it.
Had they been huddled together, the wild and the tame,
the ftrong and the weak promifcuoufly, they would have
foon difpatched one another, without troubling the de-
luge. Had proper cells and partitions been made for
them, 'tis hardly conceivable, what a prodigious fpacc,
fuch a number as was merely neceffary, would have
taken up. For, if we compute only the creatures of
the old world, the room allowed them in the ark will
hardly contain fo many different fpecies together, with
their refpective food and provender ; but then, if wc
take in all the beafts of the new world, and fuch as are
found under the fouthern hemifphere, we fhall fcarce
find room for the animals themfelves, much lefs for
the great ftore of provilions that will be neceffary to
keep them alive fo long. But the greateft wonder is,
(e) how the many animals, which are peculiar to feve-
ral parts of America, could get into Chaldea, or where-
ever the ark was built ; and, after the deluge was over,
could return to their native country again. Nay, even
allowing this to be practicable, it will ftill puzzle our
imagination to conceive, how either man or beaft, could
poffibly live, by reafon of the fhax-pnefs of the air, when
once the ark came to be raifed above the middle region,
above the tops of the higheft mountains.
" It is a much more reafonable fcheme, therefore, and
c what rids us of all thefe difficulties, to fuppofe, that the
(d) Ibid. Occdfional Annot. u. (e) If. Voffius De aetate
mundi, p. 283.
" floo^
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 205
" flood was not univerfal, but confined to fome particular A. M.
" countries; that, as its primary defign was to deftroyV"56' *r?
" mankind only, (who could hardly be thought, in CoZJ^ &c;
" fhort a time, to have overfpread the whole face of* the from Gea"
" earth), there was no neceility to carry the waters be-vl,Iato
" yond the bounds of what was inhabited; and that the '^*V '_ ^
** waters required to i\aife the deluge fome fifteen cubits
" above the higheft mountains, are more than whit the
" clouds, the rivers, the fea, and all the fuppofed cavities
" of the earth, were able to produce. For, to come to
" an eftimate of this, (f) we mud iirft fuppofe water
" enough to cover the plain furface of the earth, the fields,
" and lower grounds ; then we mult heap up ^o much
" more upon this, as will reach above the tops of the
" higheft mountains ; fo that, drawing a circle over the
" tops of the higheft mountains, quite round the earth,
" (fuppofe from pole to pole) and another to meet round
" the middle of the earth, all that fpace or capacity,
" contained within thefe circles, is to be filled up with
" water; and what a prodigious mafs muft this needs
" make ?
" In a word, we allow the flood to have been fo far uni-
" verfal, that it overwhelmed all the parts of the then inha-
" bited world, and that all the race of mankind, except
" N ih's family, was deftroyed in it ; but that it fhould
" extend itfelf over the whole globe, we fee no manner of
" reafon, becaufe the whole globe was not then inha-
" bited : Nor can we find out, in the whole ftorehoufe of
" nature, a fufficient quantity of water to overflow it to
" the height which Moles talks of, even though the whole
" of it had been inhabited. And therefore we may well
" be allowed to conclude, that the deluge was local, and
" might probably happen in that tract of ground,
" which lies between the four feas, the Perfian, the
" Cafpian, the Euxine, and the Syrian, in which com
11 pafs are the Tygris, the Euphrates, and feveral other
" large rivers, that might be contributory to the inun-
" dation."
How many wife ends the providence of God might havt Anfaered!
in bringing this deftruction upon the earth, it is impofiibK ' \
for us to find out ; but even luppofing that he had but tilts ^^f ej^
one, viz. to rid himfclf of ;i generation that was became verfal.fhmi
profligate, and paft all hopes of amendment; yet the1"*1™
of
(/) Burnet's Theory, I. r. c. 2.
Vol. I. S f
vi. iz. to
206 The Hiftory of the B 1 B L E, Book I.
A- M- number of mankind, which, before the flood, was vaftly
V556' ^Tj-iuperior to what the pi'efent earth perhaps is capable of
a.349, ire. fuilaining, caufed every place to be inhabited, and that none
from Gen. might efcape the avenging hand, caufed every place to be over-
flowed. And indeed, if we conlider the longevity of the firft
(inhabitants of the earth, and the pretty near equality of their
ages (which feem to have been providentially deligned for the
quick propagation of mankind) we fliall foon perceive, that,
in the fpace of 1 600 years, mankind would become fa
numerous, that the chief difficulty would be where we
fhculd find countries to receive them. For if, in the fpace
of about 266 years (as the facred hiftory acquaints us) the
pofterity of Jacob, by his fons only (without the confi-
deration of Dinah his daughter) amounted to lix hundred
thoufand males above the age of twenty, all able to bear
arms, what incveafe may not be expected from a race of
patriarchs, living 6, 7, 8, or 9 hundred years a-piece,
and ibme to the five hundredth year of their lives begetting
t. 1 and daughters. For, (g) if we fuppofe the increafe
of the children of Ifrael to have been gradual, and propor-
tionate through the whole 266 years, it will appear, that
they doubled themfelves every fourteen years at leaft ; and if
we ihould continue the like proportion through the entire
hundred and fourteen periods (which the fpace from the
creation to the deluge admits) the product, or number
of people on the face of the earth at the deluge, would at
leaf!' be the hundredth in a geometric double proportion, or
feries of numbers, 2, 4, 8, 16, &c. where every fucceding
one is double to that before it : And to how an immenfe
fum this proportion would arife, * thofe who know any
thing
(g) Whiflon's Theory of the earth, 1. 3. c. gf.
* The ingenious f)r Bnrnet [in his Theory of the earth, 1. I.],
has computed the multiplication of mankind in this method.
* If we allow the firft couple, fays he, at the end of 100 years,.
* or of the firft century, to have left ten pair of breeders (which
" is no hard fuppofition) there would arife from thefe, in 1500
" years, a greater number than the earth was capable of, al-
" lowing every pair to multiply in the fame decuble proportion,
" that the firit pair did. But, becaufe this would rife far beyond
" the capacity of the earth, let us fuppofe them to increafe, in-
" the following centuries, in' a quintuple proportion only, or, if
" you will, only In a quadruple, and then the table of the mult'r
" plication of mankind, frujn the creation to- the flood, would
" Hand thus :
Ccnt.v.rz
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 207
thing of the nature of geometric progreffions, will foon a. M.
perceive. So that had the antediluvians only multiplied as k*s<s, ire-
fart before, as it is certain the Ifraelites did iince the flood, ; nt- <r"
the number of mankind actually alive and exifting at die from' Gen^
deluge muft have been not only more than what the pre-yi. u. to
fent earth does contain, but prodigioufly more than what1*- s
the whole number of mankind can be jjuftly fuppofed, ever ~~ *
iince the deluge ; nay indeed, with any degree of likelihood,
ever fince the firft creation of the world. Upon which ac-
count, though this calculation mull not at all be efteemed
real, or to exhibit in any meafure the juft number of the
pofterity of Adam alive at the time of the deluge, yet it
certainly fhews us how vaftiy numerous (according to the
regular method of human propagation) the offspring of one
iingle perfon may be ; how plentifully each quarter of the
world muft then have been ltocked with inhabitants ; and
that confequently, to deftroy its inhabitants, the inunda-
tion muft have fallen upon every quarter, and encompaiTed
the whole globe.
And accordingly, if we take the circuit of the globe, From tra-
and inquire of the inhabitants of every climate, we fhall(*tlon'
find, (/;) that the fame of this deluge is gone through the
earth, and that in every part of the known world there
are certain records and traditions of it ; that the Americans
acknowledge, and fpeak of it in their continent ; that the
Chinefe (who ax-e the moft diftant people in Afia) have the
■ 10 Century 9 655360
-40 10 2621440
3 160 11 10485760
4 -.640 12 41943040
5 2560 13 167772160
6 10240 14 671088640
7 40960 15 2684354560
8 163S40 16 10737418246
This producl is too excefliVe high, if compared with the prefer^
number of men upon the face of the earth, which I think is com-
monly eitimated to be between three aud four hundred millions ;
and yet this proportion of their increafe feems to be low enough,
if we take one proportion for all the centuries. For though in re-
ality the fame meafure cannot nm equally through all the ages,
yet we have taken this as moderate and reafonablc between the
higheft and the loweft ; but if we had only taken a triple propor-
tion, it would have been fufiicient (all things confidered) for our
purpofe.
{/>) Burnet's Theory, ik'id.
S f 2 tradition
zo.
208 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. tradition of it ; that the feveral nations of Africa tell va-
If 55'r? • - TK>XIS Tories concerning it ; and that in the European parts,
2-49 6-c. tne fl°°d of Deucalion is the fame with that of Noah, only
f'rqnj Gferi. related with fome difguife. So that we may trace the de-
ra. to iUge quite round the globe, and (what is more remarkable
ft ill) every one of thefe people have a tale to tell, fome one
way, fome another, concerning die reftoration of man-
kind, which is a full proof that they thought all mankind
was once defiroyed in that deluge.
?om Nay, inftead of furrounding the globe, we need only
turn afide the furface a little, and look into the bowels of
the earth, and we fhaii find arguments enough for our
conviction. For * the beds of fhells which are often found
on the tops of the higheft mountains, and the petrified
bones and teeth of fifhes which are dug up fome hun-
dreds of miles from the fea, are the cleaieft evidences in
the world, that the waters have, fome time or other,
overflowed the higheft parts of the earth : nor can it,
with any colour of reafon, be afferted, that thefe fubter-
raneous bodies are only the mimickry or mock-pioduc-
tions of nature, for that they are real fhells, the niceft
* A learned author, who has lately undertaken an examination
of revelation, has enforced this argument with a good deal oflife
ii;id fpirit. " Whereas Mofes allures us, (fays he), that the iua~
" ten prevailed fifteen cubits above the higheft mountains, let the
'* mountains themfeives be appealed to for the truth of this aller-
** tion. Examine the higheft eminences of the earth, and they
te all, with one accord, produce the fpoils of the ocean, dcpolited
" upon them on that occafion, the (hells and fkeletons of lea-nth
" and fea-monfters of all kinds. The Alps, the Appenine, the
" Pyrenees, the Andes, and Atlas, and Ararat, every mountain
" of every region under heaven, from Japan to Mexico, all con-
" fpire, in one uniform, univerfal proof, that they all had the lea
ff fprcad ever their higheft fummits. Search the earth, and you
" will find the mtufe-deer, natives of America, buried in Ireland;
" elephants, natives of Afia and Africa, buried in the midlt of
" England; cipcodiies, natives of the Nile, in the htart ofGer-
" many; ihell-rilh, never known in any but the American feas,
" together with entire ikeletons of whales, in divers other ccun-
f< tries ; ■ctl'.I what is more, trees and plants of various kinds,
ft which ;:re not known to grow in any region under heaven. All
f which are a perfect demonstration, that Mofes's account of the
U deluge is inconteftably true;" part 1. cfijfertatioa 2.
examination
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 209
examination both of the eye and micrbfcope.does evince, A.M.
and that they are true bones, may be proved by burning i«3s<J> 6*J
them, which (as it does other bones) turns them firft in-to u' ^ "
a coal, and afterwards into a calx. fromGen.
Thefe coniiderations bid fair for the univerfality of theyi- «■ to
deluge; but then, if we take in the teftimony of Scrip- 1X' 2
ture, this puts the matter paft all doubt. For when we
read, that, by reaibn of the deluge, (i) every living fub- ture
Jlance was dcjlroyed, -which was upon the face of the
ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping things, and
the fowl of the heaven ; that during the deluge, (k) the
waters exceedingly prevailed, and all the high hills that
were under the whole heavens were covered; and that,
when the deluge was over, God made a covenant with
Noah, that (/) there fhould be no more a flood to deftroy the
earth, and to cut off allfejh } we cannot but conclude, that
every creature under heaven, except what was preferved in
the ark, was fwept away in the general devaluation.
And, indeed, unlefs this devaluation was general, we and from
can hardly conceive what neceflity there was for any arkrea on*
at all. (m) Noah, and his family, might have retired into
fome neighbouring country, as Lot and his family faved
themfelves by withdrawing from Sodom, when that city was
to be deftroyed. This had been a much better expedient,
and might have been done with nmch more eafe, than the
great preparations he was ordered to make, of a large vef-
iel, with flails and apartments for the reception of beafts
and birds. Beafts might have poflibly faved themfelves by
flight ; but if they did not, Noah might, after the deluge,
have furnifhed himfelf from other places, which this def-
lation had not reached ; and as for the birds, they, without
much difficulty, might have flown to the next dry country,
perching upon trees, or the tops of mountains, by the
way, to reft themfelves if they were tired, becaule the
waters did not prevail upon the earth all on a hidden, but
(welled by degrees to their determinate height.
Now, if the fwelling of thefe waters to a height, fa-
pcrior to thru of the lofticft mountains, was only topical,
we cannot but allow, that unlefs there was a miracle to
keep them up on heaps, they would certainly flow all over
t the earth ; becaufe thefe mountains are certainly high enough
to have made them fall every way, and join with the leas,
(i) Gen^ vii. 27.. (i)Ch. vii. 19. (/) Ch. ix. 11. (m) Bur-
act". 1 '. f,
which
2io The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M which environ the earth. All liquid bodies, we know, are
i6j6, &c. diffufive : their parts being in motion, have no tie or
a 549, &c. 'connection one with another, but glide, and fall off any x
from Gen. way, as gravity and the air prefs them ; and. therefore,
yi. tx. to when the waters began to arife at firft, long before they
r could fwell to the height of the hills, they would diffufe
themfelves every way, and thereupon all the valleys and
plains, and the lower parts of the earth, would be filled all
the globe over, before they could rife to the tops of the
mountains in any part of it. So vain and unphilofophical
is the opinion of thofe, who, to evade the difficulty of the
queftion, would fain limit or reftrain the deluge to a par-
ticular country, or countries. For if we admit it to be
univerfal, fay they, where fhall we find a fufficient quanti-
ty of water to cover the face of the earth, to the height
that Mofes mentions ?
"^Ticncr Some indeed have thought it the beft, and moft com-
tne fufli- pendious way, to call in the arm of omnipotence at once,
water va- an<^ to affirm, That God created waters on purpofe to make
rious con- the deluge, and then annihilated them again, when the
jeilures. deluge was to ceafe. But our bufinefs is not here to in-
quire what God could work by his almighty power ; but to
account for this event, in the beft manner we can, from
natural caufes. (72) Mofes, it is plain, has afcribed it to
natural caufes, the continued rains for forty days, and the
difruption of the great abyfs ; and the manner of its gra-
dual increafe and decreafe, wherein he has reprefented it, is
far from agreeing with the instantaneous actions of creation
and annihilation.
Others, inftead of a creation, have fuppofed a trans-
mutation of element, viz. either a condenfation of the air,
(o) or a rarefaction of the waters ; but neither of thefe
expedients will do : for, befides that air is a body of a
different fpecies, and (as far as we know) cannot, by any
comprefiion or condenfation, be changed into water, even
upon the fuppofition that all the air in the atmofphere were
in this manner condenfed, it would not produce a bed of
water over all the earth, above two and thirty foot deep ;
becaufe it appears, by undoubted experiment, that a co-
lumn of air from the earth to the top of the atmofphere,
aloes not weigh more than two and thirty feet of water :
(») Burnet's Theory, 1. i. c. 3. (0) Kircher De Area
Nof, 1. 2. c. 4.
much
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 211
much lefs would the fpirit of rarefaction anfwer the pur- a. m.
pofe, (/>) becaufe, if we fuppofe the waters but fifteen *6sfi, ire.
times rarer than they naturally are, (as we moft certainly ^ntg ^
do, to make thennreach the tops of the higheft mountains), from Gen.
it will be difficult to conceive, how they could either drown yi. n. to
man or beaft, keep alive the fifh, or fupport the heavy'
bulk of the ark. The truth is, Mofes, in his account
of the deluge, fays not one word of the tranfmutatioa
of elements ; the forty days rain, and the difruption of the
abyfs, are the only caufes which he afligns ; and thefe, ve-
ry likely, will lupply us with a fufficient quantity of wa-
ter, when other devices fail.
(q) A very fagacious naturalift, obferving, that at cer-
tain times, there are extraordinary prefTures on the furface
of the lea, which force the waters outwards upon the
fhores to a great height, does very reafonably fuppofe, that
the divine power might, at this time, by the inftrumen-
tality of fome natural agent, to us at prefent unknown, fo
deprefs the furface of the ocean, as to force up the water
of the abyfs through certain channels and apertures, and
fo make them a partial and concurrent caufe of the de-
luge. It cannot be denied indeed, but that the divine pro-
vidence might, at the time of the deluge, fo order and
difpofe fecond caufes, as to make them raife and impel the
water to an height fufficient to overflow the earth ; but
then, becaufe there mult be another miracle required to fuf-
pend the waters upon the land, and to hinder them
from running off* again into the fea, our author feems
to give the preference to another hypothefis, which, at ths
time of the deluge, fuppofes the centre of the earth to
have been changed, and fet nearer to the centre or rr: idle
of our continent, whereupon the Atlantic and Pacific-
oceans muff needs prefs upon the fubterraneous abyfs, and
fo compel the water to run out at thofe wide mouths, and
apertures, which the divine powc. had made in breaking
up the fountains of the great deep. Thus the waters be-
ing poured out upon the face of the earth, and its declivity
changed by the removal of the centre, they could not run
down to the fea again,, but muff neceffarily ftagnate upor,
the earth, and overflow it, till upon its return to its old
centre, they in like manner would retreat to their former
receptacles. But the misfortune of tins hypotliefis is, that
(/>) Burnet's Theory, and Le Clerc's Commentary, {q) Ray
ta his Phyfieo-theological dilcourfc concerning ihc dehire.
betides
212 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. befides the multitude of miracles required in it, it makes the
i6s<s, &c. deluge topical, and confined to our continent only, where -
,ri 'as, according to the teftimony of the fpirit of God in the
from'Gen. Holy Scriptures, it was certainly univerial.
(r) A very ingenious theorift feems to be of opinion
himfelf, and labours to perfuade others, that the * deluge
was occafioned by the difiblution of the primaeval earth ;
the difiblution of the earth by the fermentation of the in-
clofed
(r) Dr Burnet.
* To have a more perfect idea of the author's fcheme,
we muft remember, that he conceives the firfl earth, from the
manner of its formation, to have been externally regular and
uniform, of a fmooth and even furface, without mountains, and
without a fea ; and that all the waters, belonging to it, were
inclofed within an upper cruft, v-hich formed a ftupenduous
vault around them. This vaft collection of waters he takes to
have been the great deep, or abyfs of Mofes,- and that the dif.
ruption of it was the chief caufe of the deluge. For he fuppofes,
that the earth being, for fome hundreds of years, expofed to the
continual heat of the fun, which, by reafon of the perpendicu-
lar pofition, which, as he imagines, the earth's axis then had
to the plane of the ecliptic, was very intenfe, and not allayed by
the diverfity of feafons, which now keep our earth in an e- .
quality of temper; its exterior cruft was, at length, very
much dried, and when the heat had pierced the Thell, and
reached the waters beneath it, they began to be rarefied, and
raifed into vapours ; which rarefaction made them require more
fpace than they needed before, and finding themfelvcs pent in
by an exterior earth, they preiTed with violence againft the
arch, to make it yield to their dilatation: and as the repeat-
ed r.ftion of the fun gave force to thefe inclofed vapours
more and more, fo, on the other hand, it weakened more and
more the arch of the earth, that was to reiift them, fucking
out the moifture that was the cement of its parts, and
parching and chapping it in fundry places ; fo that, there be-
ing then no winter to clofe up its parts, it every day grew
more and more difpofed to a diholution, till at length, when
God's appointed time was come, the whole fabric broke ; the
frame of earth was torn in pieces, as by an earthquake ; and
thofe great portions or fragments, into which it was parted, fell
down into iii ; abyfs, fome in oif polture, and fome in another.
Thus the <■ th put on anew form, and became divided into
fca, and 1 i ; ;he greater! part of the abyfs conftituting our
prefent occ«n, and the reft filling up the cavities of the earth.
Mountains and hills appeared on the land, iil.mds in the fea,
and
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 213
clofod waters ; the fermentation of the waters, by the a. M.
continued intenfe heat of the fun; and the great heat of l6s6, ire.
the fun, by the perpendicular poiirion of the axis of the ' Cjl
earth to the plane of the ecliptic. But allowing the poll- from' Gen*.
tion of the earth to be what he imagines, (s) yet it feemsvi. u. to
di.liculc to conceive, how the heat of the fun fhould be folx- 1°'
intenfe, as to caufe great cracks in it, and fo raife the ~~*~"
waters in it into vapours ; or how the waters, thus rare-
fied, mould be of force fuiTicient to break through an
arch of folid matter, lying upon them fomc hundred
miles thick. It is much more probable, that if die action
of the fun was fo ftrong, the abyfs (which the theorift
makes the only ftorehoufe of waters in the firft earth)
would have been almoft quite exhausted, before the time
of the deluge : nor can we believe that this account of
things is any way confonant to the Mofaic hiftory, which
defcribes a gradual rife and abatement, a long continuance
of the flood, and not fuch a fudden fhock and con-
vuliion of nature, as the theorift intends, in which, with-
out the divine intervention, it was impoffible for the ark
to be faved.
(t) Another learned theorift endeavours to folve the
whole matter, and fupply a fufficiency of water from the
trajecYion of a comet. For he fuppofes, " That in its
" defcent towards the fun, it preffed very violently upon
" the earth, and by that means, both raifed a great tide
" in the fea, and forced up a vaft quantity of fubterraneous
" waters ; that as it pafled by, it involved the earth in its
" atmofphere for a confiderable time ; and as it went off,
" left a vaft tract of its tail behind, which (together with
" the waters, preffed from the fea, and from the great a-
" byfs) was enough to cover the face of the whole earth,
" for the perpendicular height of three miles.1' But (to
pafs by fmaller objections) that which feems to deftroy his
whole hypothefis is this (u) That it is far from being
clear, whether the atmofphere of a comet be a watery fub-
ftance or not. The obfervations of the moft curious in-
quirers make it very probable, that the circle about the bo-
and rocks upon the (hore, fo that, at one (hock, providence diffol-
ved the old world, and made a new one out of its ruin. Vide
the Univerfal hiftory, 1. 1. c. 1. where this extract out of Bur-
net's theory is made.
(j) Keil's Examination of Burnet's theory. (t) Mr Whiiton.
(«) Keil's Anfwer to Whifton's Theory ; and Nicholl's Confe-
rence, vol. 1.
Vol. I. T c dy
214
The two
reafons
which the
Scripture
afligns :
i . Conti-
nued rains ;
The Hillory of the BIBLE, Book I.
dy of a comet is nothing, but the curling or winding round
of the fmoak, riling at firft to a determinate height, from
all parts of the comet, and then making off to that part of
it which is oppolite to the fun ; and if this opinion be
true, the earth, by palling through die atmofphere of a
comet, ran a greater rifque of a conflagration, than a de-
luge.
Thefe are the feveral expedients which the wit of men
hath devifed, to furnifh a fufficient quantity of water, in
order to effect a deluge, but all incompetent for the work.
Let us now turn to the facred records, and fee what the
two general caufes affigned therein, the opening of the "win-
dows of heaven, and the breaking up of the fountains of the
great deep, arc able to fupply us with, upon this occafion.
I. By the opening of the windows of heaven, muft be
under flood the caufing the waters which were fufpended
in the clouds, to fall upon the earth, not in ordinary
fhowers, but in floods, or (as the Septuagint tranllate it)
in cataracts, (x) which travellers may have the trueft no-
tion of, who have feen thofe prodigious falls of water,
fo frequent in the Indies, and where the clouds many times
do not break into drops, but fall, with a terrible violence,
in a torrent.
How far thefe treasures of waters in the air might
contribute to the general inundation, we may, in fome mea-
sure, compute from what we have obferved in a thunder-
cloud, (y) which, in the fpace of lefs than two hours,
has fometimes poured down fuch a vaft quantity of wa-
ter, as befides what funk into the dry and thirfty ground,
and filled all the ditches and ponds, has caufed a conllde-
rable flood in the rivers, and fet all the meadows on
float.
Now, had this cloud (which fcr ought we know moved
forty miles forward in its falling) hood ftill, and em-
ptied all its water upon the fame fpot of ground, what a
hidden and incredible deluge would it have made in the
place ? What then muft we fuppofe the event to have been,
when the flood-gates of heaven were all opened, and on
every part of the globe, the clouds were inceffantly pour-
ing out water with fuch violence, and in fuch abundance,
for forty days together ? ,
(x) Patrick's Commentary.
(/) Ray °P tne deluge.
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 2 15
It is impoffible for us indeed to have any adequate a. M.
conception of" the thing, (2) though the vaft inundations i<ss 6, &c.
which are made every vear in E^yot, only by the rains- ,a™^
which fall in Ethiopia, and the like annual overflowings of from* Gen.
the great river Oroonoque in America, whereby many vi. iz. to
iflands and plains, at other tini^s inhibited, are laid twen- **• zo-
ty feet under water, between May and September, may
give us a faint emblem, and be of fome ufe to cure our in-
fidelity in this refpect.
2. The other caufe which the Scripture makes mention z. the break
of, is the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep,'^g up of
whereby thofe waters, which were contained in vaft quanti- e a-s ;
ties in the bowels of the earth, were forced out, and
thrown upon the furface of it. (a) That there is a mighty
collection of waters inclofed in the bowels of the earth,
which conftitutes a large globe, in the interior or central
part of it ; and that the waters of this globe communicate
with that of the ocean, by means of certain hiatus, or
apertures, paffing between it and the ocean, * is evident
from the Cafpian and other feas, which receive into them-
felves many great rivers, and having no vifible outlets,
muft be fuppofed to difcharge the water they receive, by
fubterraneous paffages into this receptacle, and by its in-
tervention, into the ocean again. The (/>) Mediterranean
in particular, befides the many rivers that run into it, has
two great currents of the fea, one at the ftraits of Gib-
(z) Patrick's Commentary, (a) Woodward's Natural hiftory.
* The Cafpian fea is reckoned in length to be above an
hundred and twenty German leagues, and in breadth, from eaft
to weft, about ninety of the fame leagues. There is no vifible
way for the water to run out ; and yet it receives into its bofom
near an hundred large rivers, and particularly the great river
Wolga, which of hfelf is like a fea for largenefs, and fuppofed
to empty fo much water into it in a year's time, as might fuffi.ee
to cover the whole earth ; and yet it is never increaled nor di-
miuinied, nor is obferved to ebb or flow, which makes it evi-
dent, that it muft neaffari'v have a fubterraneous communication
with other parts of the world. And accordingly, Father Avril,
a modern traveller, tells us, that near the coaft of Xylam there
is in this fea a mighty whirlpool, which fucks in every thing that
comes near it, and confequently has a cavity in the earth, into
which it defcends. Vid. Moll's Geography at the end of Perfia
in Afia, p. 67.; Stillingfleet's Orig. fac, 1. 3. c. 4.; and Bed-
ford's Scripture-chronology, c 12.
if) Nicholl's Conference, vol. 1.
T t 2 raltar,
2 1 6 The Hiflory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A.M. raltar, and the other at the Propontis, which bring in fuch
)?s6'Jic: vaft tides of water, that, many ages ago, it muft have
' fre endangered the whole world, had it not emptied itfelf,
from Gen. by certain fecret paiTages, into fome great cavity under-
yi. iz. to neath. And for this reafon, fome have imagined, (c)
that the earth altogether is one great animal, whofe abyfs
iupplies the place of the heart in the body of the earth, to
furnifh all its aqueducts with a fufficiency of water, and
whole fubterraneous paiTages are like veins in the body,
which receive water out of the fea, as the veins do blood
out of the liver, and in a continued circulation, return it
to the heart again.
However this be, it is certainly more than probable, (be-
caufe a matter of divine revelation), that there is an im-
menfe body of water inclofed in the centre of the earth,
to which the Pfalmift plainly alludes, when he tells us, that
(d) God /blinded the earth upon the feas, and ejlablified it
tipon the floods ; that (e) he Jiretched out the earth above
the waters ; that (f) he gathered up the waters as in a
bag, (fo the beft tranflations have it), and laid up the
deep as in a Jlore-houfe. Nay, there is a pafTage or two in
the Proverbs of Solomon, (where Wifdom declares her anti-
quity, and pre-exiftence to all the works of the earth),
which fets before our eyes, as it were, the very form and
figure of this abyfs: (g) When he prepared the heavens, I
was there, when he Jet a compafs upon the face of the deep,
and ftrengthened the fountains of the abyfs. Here is men-
tion made of the abyfs, and of the fountains of the abyfs ;
nor is there any queftion to be made, but that the foun-
tains of the abyfs heie are the fame with thofe which Mo-
fes mentions, and which, as he tells us, were broken up at
the deluge. And what is more obfervable in this text,
the word which we render compafs, properly fignifies a
circle, or circumference, or an orb, or fphere : fo that,
according to the teftimony of Wifdom, who was then pre-
fent, there was, in the beginning, a fphere, orb, or arch,
fet round the abyfs, by the means of which, the fountains
thereof were ftrengthened ; for we cannot conceive, how
they could have been ftrengthened any other way, than by
having a ftrong cover or arch made over them.
(c) Stillinofleet's Orig. facr. (d) Pfal. xxiv. 2.
(e) Pfal. exxxvi 6. (/) Pfal. xxxiii. 7. (g) Prov.
Via. 27. 28. ; Sir Walter Raleigh's Hiltory.
If
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 217
If fuch then be the form of this abyfs, that it feems to A. M.
be a vaft mafs or body of water lying together in the l^s6,^.'c
womb of the earth, it will be no hard matter to compute ' &^'
what a plentiful lupply might have been expected from from Gen.
thence, in order to effect an univerfal deluge, (b) For ify- '* -to
the circumference of the earth (even according to the low- ^"V^j
eft computation) be 21,000 miles, the diameter of it (ac- Its futfici.
cording to that circumference) 7000 miles; and confe-ency to
quently from the fuperficies to the centre, 3500 miles ; drown the
and if (according to the beft account) * the higheft moun-wor *
tain in the world (taking its altitude from the plain it
ftands upon) does not exceeci four perpendicular miles in
height ; then we cannot but conclude, that in this abyfs
there would be infinitely more water than enough,- when
drawn out upon the furface of the earth, to drown the
earth to a far greater height than Mofes relates. In a
word, fince it is agreed on all hands, that in the time
of the chaos, the waters did cover the earth, infomuch
that nothing of it could be feen, till God was pleafed to
make a feparation : why fhould it be thought fo ftrange a
thing, that, upon a proper occafion, they Ihould be able to
cover the earth again ; (i) elpecially when the waters above
the firmament came down to join thofe below, as they did
at the beginning ?
(k) Seneca, treating of that fatal day (as he calls it)
when the deluge fhall come, (for he fuppofed that the
{h) Patrick's Commentary.
* It is very probable, that men are exceedingly miftaken as to
the height of mountains, fince, upon examination, it appears that
the higheft in the world is not four miles perpendicular. Olym-
pus, whofe height is fo extolled by the poets, does not much ex-
ceed a mile and a half. The mount Athos, which is faid to call
its fhadow into the ifle of Lemnos, (according to Pliny 87 miles)
is but two miles in height ; nay, the very Pike of Tenerif^ which,
is reputed the higheft mountain in the world, may be afcended
in three days, which (according to the proportion of eight fur-
longs to a day's journey) make it much about the height of a Ger-
man mile perpendicular, as Varenius confeffes. And as for thofe
mountains in Peru, in companion of which (as the Spaniards tell
us) the Alps are no more than cottages, they themfelves allow,
that they may be afcended in four days, which ftill reduces them
much within the compafs of four miles, and thereby makes the
account of the flood, and its over-topping the higheft mountains,
not fo improbable as fomc imagine ; St tiling fleet's Orig. facr. lib.
3. cap. 4.
(/) Vid. 1. 1. c. 1. p. 6. (k) Nat. Quieft, 1. 3. c. 27.
world
IX. 10.
2 1 8 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. world was to be deftroyed alternately, firft by water, and
1S55, &c. after that by fire), and queftioning how it might be effeft-
*,,.« !w ed, whether by the force of the oceaa overflowing the
from Gen. earth, by perpetual rains without intermifilon, by the
ii. to fwelling of rivers, and opening of new fountains, or (what
he rather fuppofes) by a general concourfe and combina-
tion of all thefe caufes, concludes his inquiry at laft with
thefe remarkable words, " There are vaft lakes (lays he)
" which we do not fee, much of the fea which lies hidden
" and concealed, and many rivers which glide in fecret ;
" fo that there may be caufes of a deluge on all fides,
" when fome waters flow under the earth, others flow
" round about it, and being long pent up, may overwhelm
" it. And as our bodies fome times diflblve into fweat,
" fo the earth fhall melt, and, without the help of other
** caufes, fhall find in itfelf what fhall drown it. There
11 being in all places, both openly and fecretly, both from
" above and from beneath, an eruption of waters ready to
" ovc-rflow and deftroy it."
But whatever folutions we may gather, either from fa-
cred or profane authors, it feems neceflary, after all, to call
in the divine power to our afliftance. (/) For though the
waters which covered the earth at the creation might
be fufficient to cover it again ; yet how this could be ef-
fected by mere natural means, cannot be conceived. Though
the waters fufpended in the clouds might fall in great
torrents for fome time, yet, when once their ftoi*e was
exhaufted, (as at this rate it could not laft long), nothing
but an almighty voice could have commanded a frefh fup-
ply of forty days continuance from thofe other planetary
ipaces where he had fettled their abode : and though the
fubterraneous ftores did certainly contain a fund fufficient to
complete the deluge, yet there wanted on this occafion
an almighty hand, either to break down the arch which
enclofed the abyfs, or by fome fecret paffages to force the
waters out of it upon the furface of the earth ; and fo flop-
ping the reflux, fufpend them for fuch a determinate time,
at fuch an elevation. There needed fome almighty hand,
I fay, to do this : and accordingly we may obferve, that
though Mofes makes mention of two natural caufes
that might be conducive to the work, yet he introduces God
as fuperintending their caufes, and affuming indeed the
whole performance to himfelf : for behold /, even I, do bring a
(/) Urriverfal Hiftory, 1. 1. c 1.
pod
Chap VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 219
flood of "waters upon the earth, to dcftroy allflejb -wherein is A. M.
the breath of life, from under heaven, and every thing that is \6i6,l^'e:l:
1 ±t n 11 j' Ant. Cnril~
on the earth J ball die. a349> ^
Thus, with the help and concurrence of God, we have from Gen.
found a fufficient quantity of water for the deftrudtion ofVI- Ia- to
the old world: let us now confider the make and capacity, ' * '
of the veffel wherein the feveral animals that were to reple-
niih the new were to be preferved.
[rn) Could we but imagine, that by fome ftrange revolu- Mofes's
tion the whole art of lhipping mould come to be loft in this manner of
part of the world, and that there happened to remain fuchd^"cn!?in£
a lhort account of one of our largeft fhips (the Royal
Anne, foi inftance) as that it was fo many foot long, broad,
and deep ; could contain in it fome hundreds of men, with
other living creatures, and proviiions for them all during
feveral months ; and that the ftrength of it was fuch, that
it was not broken in pieces all the time that the great ftorm
endured ; would it not be very pleaiant for any one to con-
clude from hence, that this fhip, according to the defcrip-
tion of it, was nothing but an oblong fquare, without any
more contrivance than a common cheft made by the molt
ignorant joiner ? And yet fuch are fome men's inferences
when they talk of this noble ftruclure.
Mofes indeed makes mention of little elfe but the di-Itsdefign to
menfions of the ark, its ftories, and capacity to hold thefioat,ncaIw
things to be placed in it ; but it does not therefore follow,
but that it might have the convexity of a keel, (as many
large flat-bottomed veflelshave), as well as a prow, to make
it cut the waters more ealily. The delign of the veflel
however was not to make way, (as they call it at fea), but
to preferve its inhabitants ; and this it was more capable of
doing (as f may be proved to a demonftration) than if it
had
(m) Biblioth. Biblica.; Occaf. annot. 15.
■f For let us fuppofe, that without any addition of art, it
was nothing more than an oblong fquare, whole length was lex-
tuple to the breadth, and decuple to the height; it is demon-
Arable, that a piece of wood of that proportion being lighter
than the water, will be always fupported by .it. For inftance,
take a plank of oak exactly fquare, let it be one foot broad,
fix foot long, and feven or eight inches thick, anfwering the
proportion of the ark ; there is no body, I believe, will fay,
that any waves or winds will be ftrong enough to break this
piece of timber, notwithftanding its right angles. Now, let
any folid of this falhion be multiplied in. a decuple, centuple, cr
millecuple
2 20 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. had been built according to the moft modern model, even
ZAS6,JhC'c fuPP°fing tne waters, from the firft to the laft, to have been
a ' fyc "never fo boifterous. But this they were not: whatever
from Gen. ftorms and convulfions there might be in particular places,
yi. ii. to when the flood-gates of heaven were at firft opened, and
**_ — °.'- _jtne fountains of the great deep broken up, (and then the
ark was not afloat), the facred text takes no notice of any
rough weather till after the 1 50 days of the flood's gradual
increafe, when, upon the ceafing of the rains from above,
and the waters from beneath, God fent .forth a ftrong
driving wind, but then the ark was at reft. So that all the
time that the ark was afloat, or (as the Scripture expreffes
it) while it went on the face of the waters, the winds were
afleep, and the weather, though rainy, was free from all
ftorms and angry commotions. Upon the whole, there-
fore, we may conclude, that, be the ftructure of the ark
what it will, it was certainly fuited both to the burthen it
was to carry, and the weather it was to live in ; and on
this, and fundry other accounts, * upon experiment, per-
haps it may be found to be the moft complete and perfect
model that ever was devifed.
It$ h^d"'* **ac* we never ^een a A"P> anc* fh°uld be told what a
very thing number of men, and what a quantity of provifion and
that was to merchandife one of the largeft rates will carry, it would
fee put in it. feem no iefs incredible to us than what Mofes tells us of
the things which were contained in the ark. The ark,
millecuple proportion, and let the force of the waves, and the in.
vafive power of the wind, be multiplied aifo with it in the fame
proportion, the refiftance of a rectangular folid (which is perfectly
impenetrable, and exactly the cafe of the ark) will be proof a-
gainft any given force whatever; Bibliotheca Biblka, vol. 1. ;
0ccaf.a7mct.il,.
* About the beginning of the laft century, Peter Janfon, a
Dutch merchant, caufed a (hip to be built for him, anfwering, in
its refpective proportions, to thofe of Noah's ark, the length of it
being 1 20 foot, the breadth of it 20, and the depth of it 1 2.
At firft this was looked upon no better than as a fanatical vilion
of this Janfon, (who was by profeffion a Menonift), and, whilft
it was building, he and his fhip were made the iport of the fea-
men, as much as Noah and his ark could be. But afterwards it
was found that (hips built in this fafliion were, in the time of peace,
beyond all others moft commodious for commerce ; becaufe they
would hold a third part more, without requiring any more hands,
and were found far better runners than any made before ; Biblio*
thecaBiblm, ibid.
according
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 221
according to his account, was 300 cubits in length, 50 in A. M.
breadth, and 30 in height ; and if we fuppofe the cubit It5s<J> J?'/.
here mentioned, at the loweft computation, to be but a foot 9> 1, '
and an half long, yet was the length of it (according to from Gen.
that proportion) 450 feet, the breadth 75, and the heightvi- IZ- t0
45; and confequently, the whole capacity 1,580,750 cubi-
cal feet, which was fpace enough, in all confcience, to re-
ceive every thing, and much more than every thing that
was to be contained in it. For it appears from the {acred
text, that the form of the ark was rectangular ; (n) and
being intended only for a kind Of float to fwim above the
water, the flatsiefs of its bottom did render it much more
capacious. It appears from the fame text, that this ark
confided of three ftories, and the whole height of it being
45 feet, it may well be fuppofed that this height was equal-
ly divided among the three ftories, and fo each ftory was
1 5 foot high, only deducting a foot and a half, or one cu-
bit, for the flop of the roof, or the cover of the upper fto-
ry. (0) It is likewife pretty well agreed by interpreters,
that the loweft ftory was appointed for four-footed ani-
mals, as moft commodious for them ; the middle ftory for
their provender, and what they were to live upon ; and the
upper ftory partly for the birds, and what they were to eat,
and partly for Noah and his family, together with their u-
tenfils : and that each of thefe ftories was fpacious enough
to receive what was to be put therein, will appear to any
one who will give himieif the trouble * of making a geome-
trical calculation.
He
(«) Wilkins's Effay towards a real character. (0) Wells's
Geography, vol. 1. cap. 2. ; Laniy's Introduction.
* Buteo has plainly demonftratcd, that all the animals con-
tained in the ark- could not be equal to 500 horfcs ; (the learn-
ed Heidegger, from Temporarius, makes them 4C0 oxen) ; and
yet it is not to be qucftioned, but that a building very near as
long as St Paul's Church, and as broad as the middle ifle of
that church is high within, is capable of affording (tabling for
fuch a number of horfcs. Vid. Dr Hundy'sTranflation of Lamy's
introduction. Kirchcr (in his /irca Nu, c. 8.) has given us
large calculations of the dimenfions of the ark, and from
thence concludes, th;tt this veifcl was capacious enough to re-
ceive, not only Noah and his family, all other creatures and
their food, but even an entire province likewife. Wilkins, (in
his Effay towards 3 feal character)*, and from him Wells (in his
Vol. I. U u Geography
2 2 2 The Hiflory of the B I BL E, Book I.
A. M. -He who looks upon the ftars, as they are confufedly
16 sc, &c. fcattered up and down in the firmament, will think them,
a tig &c lo^e (w^at t^iey are Sometimes called) innumerable, and
froaiGcn. above the power of all arithmetic to count; and yet, when
yi. I*, to they are diftinctly reduced to their particular conftellations,
*x-^°- and defcribed by their feveral places, magnitudes, and
Thenum- namcs> ll appears, that of thofe which are vifible to the
berot'aiu- naked eye, there are not many more than a thoufand in the
mals: whole firmament, and few more than half fo many (even
taking in the minuter kinds of them) to be feen at once in
any hemifphere. And in like manner, he who fhould
put the queftion, How many kinds of beafts or birds there
are in the world ? would be anfwered, even by fuch as in
other refpects are knowing and learned enough, that there
are fo many hundreds of them as cannot be enumerated ;
whereas, upon a diftincl: inquiry into all fuch as are yet
known, or have been defcribed by credible authors, it will
appear, that they are much fewer than is commonly ima-
gined, (p) not an hundred forts of beads, and not two
hundred of birds.
And why And yet, out of this number, as fmall as it is, we mufk
fewer than except all animals that are of equivocal generation, as in-
'^l* fedls ; all that are accuftomed to live in water, as fifh and
water-fowl ; all that proceed from a mixture of different
fpecies, as mules ; and all that by changing their climate,
change their colour and fize, and fo pais for different
creatures, when in reality they are the fame. We muft
obferve farther, that ail creatures of the fcrpentine kind,
Geography of the Old Tefbment) have both entered into a large
detail of things, and given us an exail and complete idea of tbe
capacity of the ark, and of its proportion, together with what it
might contain. Le Pektier (in his Differ, fur r arch de No'e)
follows another Englifti author, Bifhop Cumberland, who, in his
Difcovery of the weights and meafures of the Jews, has proved,
that the ancient cubit of the Jews was the old derah of Memphis ;
whereupon Peletier allows 1,781,377 cubical feet of Paris for
the whale contents of the ark, lb that it might hold (as he pre-
tends) 42,413 tons of lading. But a certain anonymous author
has publilhed a diuertation upon the fame principles, wherein he
compares the ark to our modern (hips, and computes its meafure
according to the tons it might contain, and thereupon makes it
krger than 40 (hips of 1000 tons each. Vid Diffirt. /;//?.
ehron.geograph. ire. d. 2.; 'journal de Paris fur Janvier 1 712.
torn. ft. p. 9.
(/>) Wilkins's Eiluy.
the
ned.
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood.
<&c.
223
A. M.
the viper, (hake, flow-warm, lizard, frog, toad,
might have fufHcient fpace for their reception, and for 16 s6, &c.
their nourilhment in the hold or bottom of the ark, which Ant- c]y^-
was probably three or four foot under the floor, whereon from' Gen*.
the beads are fuppofed to ftand ; and that the fmaller crea- vi. i». to
tures, fuch as the moufe, rat, mole, 6v. might find fuf- ix- *°-
ficient room in feveral parts of the ark, without having
any particular places or cells appointed for them : lb that
the number of the feveral fpecies of animals to be placed in
the firft or lowed ftory, upon the foot of tnis deduction,
flands thus.
Beads which live on hay. On fruits and roots.
On flefli
The Horfe
Stone-bu:k
The Hog
Th2 Lion
Afs
Shamois
Baboon
Bear
Camel
Antelope
Ape
Tyger
Elephant
Elke
Monkey-
Pard
Bull
Hart
Sloth
Ounce
Urus
Buck
Porcunine
Cat
Biibn
Rein-dear
Hedge-hog
Civet-cat
Bonafus
Roe
Squirrel
Finet
Buffalo
Rhinoceros
Ginny-pig
Polecat
Sheep
CameloDird
Ant-bear
Martin
Stepciferos
Hare
Armadilla
Broad-tail
Rabbit
Tortoife.
Goat
Marmotte.
Stoat
Wee lie
Caftur
Ott'.T
Dog
Wolf
Fox
Badger
Jackall
Caraguya.
Now, concerning thefe creatures God gives Noah this The lowcft
injunction: (q) Of every clean beajl, thou Jhalt take to thee^OIV ' h'^c
by /evens, the male and the female ; and of beajls that are not^^ receo-
clean, by two, the male and the female. Taking the words tion, and
then in their higheft acceptation, viz. that Noah was tow^7"
receive into the ark one pair of every fpecies of unclean a-
nimals, and Cevcn pair of every fpecies of clean ; yet, con-
fidering that the fpecies of unclean animals, which were
admitted by pairs only, are many in companion of the
clean, and the fpecies of large animals few in comparifon
of the fmaller ; we cannot but perceive (as by a fhort cal-
culation it will appear) that this lower ftory, which was
ten cubits high, three hundred long, and fifty broad, i. e.
225,000 folid feet in the whole, would be capable of re-
ceiving, with all manner of conveniency, not only all the
forts of beads that we are acquainted with, but probably all
ihofe other kinds which are any where to be found under
the copes of heaven.
It is a pretty general opinion, and what feems to bej ei,lu^
founded on Scripture, that before the. flood, both m^nidetu to "
, x „ ... contain
[a) Gea. VIII. 2- their pro-
UUJ beads, vender, -nd
why.
224 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. hearts, and birds fed only upon fruits and vegetables.
z^i6\tr,\ (r) Behold I have given you every herb, lays God, bear*
=.349 ire. inS> fee^> which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
from Gen. tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding feed, to you
vi. 1 i, to it fja.ll he for meat ; and to every beaft of the earth, and
to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth
vponj the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every
green herb for meat : * Nor do there want inftances in
hiftory of fonie very ravenous creatures that have been
brought to live upon other kind of food than fleih. So
(r) Chap. i. 29. 30.
* It is not to be denied, but that fcveral learned men have
taken great pains to provide flefh for the carnivorous animals
ihut up in the ark, when it is beyond all confroverfy that the
ftomaebs of inch animals are fitted for the digeftion of fruits
and vegetables ; that fuch food would be more falutary both for
tlrem and their 1 epers, and would create a lefs demand of
dian .t the courfe of fo long a confinement; and
yet there is not the lead foundation from the text to fuppofe,
that any fuch provifion was made for creatures of fuch an ap-
petite, but fevers! inftances in hiftory do fliew, that even the
1110ft rapacious of them all may be brought to live upon other
diet than Befti, Thus Philoftratus, in his Apollonius, 1. 5. tells us
of a lion in Egypt, which, though it went into the temple con-
ilantly, would neither lick the blood of iacrifices, nor eat any of
the flelh when it was cut in pieces, but fed altogether on bread
and fweet-meats : and Sulpitius Severus [Dial. 1. c 7.] gives us
this account of a Monk of Thebais. " When we' came to the
li tree, whither our courteous h oft led us, we there perceived a
" lion, at the fight of which I and my guide began to trern-
f* ble ; but "is the holy man went directly up to it, we, though
" in no fmall fright, followed after. The beaft, at our ap-
(< proach, medeftly retired, and flood veiy quiet and ftill, while
*' the good man gathered it fome branches of apples, and as he
" held them out, the lion came up and eat them, and fo went
c< off." The like ftory is told us by Phocas, in his description
of the Holy Land, cap. 13. of fome lions beyond the river
daii, whom an Anchorite, named Iberus, fed with pulfe.and
crafts of bread : and to the animals in the ark, feeding in this
met, the prophet Ifaiah, fpeaking of the times cf the Mef-
fiah, [cb. 11. 6. 7 ] is fuppofed by our author to allude. The
If jhall dwell ivitb the lamb, a?id the leopard lie down with
•he kid, and the calf and the young lion, and the fatlhig toge-
ther, and a little child jhall lead them; and the cow and the
I or thai I fed, their young ones frail lie down together, and the
I eat f raw. like the ox •■ Heidegger's Hift. patr. exer. 1 7.
that
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 225
that there was no neceffity for Noah's providing fo many A, M.
fupernumerary fheep (as fome would have it) to feed theV55/' *%'
carnivorous animals for a whole year, (j-) the fame di-i349) &c]
vine providence which directed all the animals, of whate-from Gen.
ver country, to make towards the ark, which took from^
them their fiercenefs, and made them tame and gentle up-
on this occafion, might likewife beget in them a loathing of
flefh, (fuppofing they eat it before), and an appetite for
hay, corn, fruits, or any other eatables that were mod
obvious in this time of diftrefs. And as they were jhut up,
and could not fpend themfelves by motion, but might have
their ftomachs palled with the continued agitation of the
veiTel, they may well be fuppofed to ftand in need of lefs
provifion than at other times.
If then (to make our computation) we mould fay, that
(t) all the beafts in the lower ftory of the ark were equal,
in their confumption of food, to 300 oxen, (which is more
by a great deal than fome calculations have allowed), that
30 or 40 pounds of hay are ordinarily fufficient for an ox
for one day ; and that a folid cubit of hay, well compreffi
ed, will weigh about 40 pounds ; then will this fecond
ftory, being of the fame dimenfions with the other, i. e.
225,000 folid feet, not only allow fpace for a fufficient
quantity of hay, but for other repofitories of fuch fruits,
roots, and grain, as might be proper for the nourifhment
of thofe animals that live not upon hay ; and for fuch paf-
fages and aperture^ in the floor as might be necefTary for
the putting down hay and other provender to the beafts in
the lower ftory.
Upon the whole therefore it appears, that the middle T,ie llPP«
ftory of the ark was likewife large enough to hold all that^ory !llfl!"
-r 1 1 • 1 1- 1 , • , , cient for its
was requisite to be put therein : and as tor the third andpurpofe.
upper ftory, there can no manner of doubt be made, but
that it was fufficient to hold all the fpecies of birds, even
though they were many more than they are generally com-
puted. The accurate bifhop Wilkins * has divided them
into
»
(s) Heidegger's Hid. patriar. ibid. (/) Wilkins's Effiy,
part 2. c. 5.
* The manner of his reckoning them up is this :
1. Carnivorous birds 66
2. Pliytivorous birds of fhort wings — 17
7. Pliytivorous birds of long wings — — i ':
,',. !';^t'vorot:s birds of fliort thick bills ~ 16
5. Inf<
226 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. into nine forts, and reckon them i"o be an hundred and
A -^Ch T nmety"five m rhe whole ; but then the greateft part of
^349, &c. them are fo very fmall, that they might well enough be
from Gen. kept in partitions or cages piled one upon another. The
!' !*' t0 f°0<i neceflary for their fuftenance would not take up any
;great proportion of room, and the remainder of the ftory
would make a commodious enough habitation for Noah
and his family, together with little clofets. and offices,
wherein to difpofe of their feveral domeftic matters and
utenflls.
BifliopWil- Upon the whole inquiry then, fays the fame learned
j^™!s re" prelate, it does, of the two, appear more difficult to af-
©nthe ^§n a fufficient number and bulk of neceflary things to
whole. anfwer the capacity of the ark, than to find fufficient room
in it for the convenient reception of them ; and thereupon
he truly, as well as pioufly, concludes, (u) (t That had the
*" mo ft ikilful mathematicians and philofophers been fet to
f* confult what proportions a vefTel defigned for fuch an
'* ufe as the ark was, fhould have in the feveral parts of
-' it, they could not have pitched upon any other more
" fuitable to the purpofe than thefe mentioned by Mofes
" are; infomuch, that the proportion of the ark (from
** which fome weak and Atheiftical perfons have made fome
" poor efforts to overthrow the authority of the facred
" Scriptures) does very much tend to confirm and eftablifh
" the truth and divine authority of them. Efpecially,
f if we only confider, that in thefe days men were lefs
*' verfed in arts and fciences; at leaft, that the ark was,
" in all probability, the firft vefTel of any bulk that was
'* made to go upon the water: whence the juftnefs of
" the proportion obferved in its feveral parts, and the ex-
" actnefs of its capacity to the ufe it was defigned for, are
5. Jnfecfivorous birds the greater ■ 1 5
6. Infeclivorous birds the lefs — 12
7. Aquatic birds near wet places ^ 1 7
2. Aquatic fiffipedes « * — 16
9. Aquatic plcnipedes ■ ■ — 18
In all— 195
To thefe perhaps may be added fome exotic birds; but as the
number of thefe is but fmall, fo we may obferve of the carnivorous,
which is the largeft fpecies, that they were reputed unclean, and
eonfequently, but two of each fort admitted into the ark ; Bed-
ford's Scrip, chron. 1. 1 2.
(«) Wilkins, ibid.
« reafonably
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 227
" reafonably to be afcribed, not to bare human" invention A. M.
" and contrivance, but to the divine direction, exprefsly JJ*ff,Qj§.
" given to Noah by God himfelf, as the facred hiftorianl349) &c "
*' acquaints us." from Gen.
Thus we have placed the feveral kinds of creatures in ]"
the ark, and furnifhed them with a competent flock of *y
provifion.
And now, if itlhould be aflced, How came, they all thi- How the k-
ther ? the reply in that cafe will be this (x) That the mres weie
country of Eden is very reafonably fuppofed by learned men brought t»
to be next adjacent to the garden of that name, from^ ark>
whence Adam was expelled ; and that, as all early accounts
of that country paint it out to us, as one of the moft fruit-
ful and delicious regions in the earth, (though now greatly
changed), there is no reafon to imagine, that Adam fought
for any habitation beyond it. There, according to many
concurring circumftances, was this famous ark built :
there is gopher-wood (very reafonably fuppofed to be
cyprefs) found in great abundance ; there is afphaltus,
"wherewith the ark, to defend it from the impreffion of
the waters, was daubed and fmeared both within and
without ; and not far from thence is mount Ararat, where
the ark, as the waters began to abate, is known to have
refted : and in this fituation, there is not any reafon to
imagine, that any one fpecies of animals could be out of
Noah's reach, (y) There they were ail natives of the fame .
country, and he perhaps, fome time before the flood,
might have tamed fome of every kind, fo that, when the
deluge came on, they might eafily be brought to the ark,
and every one ranged in its proper place, before that Noah
ihut it up.
But now, that they are all fhut up, what fhall we do How they
for air to keep them alive, or for light, to direcl: them in lived for
what they are to do ? Mention indeed is made of a window, wa£ j^L*11
left in the upper part of the ark ; but this is faid to be no
more than a cubit fquare, and what is this in proportion to
fo vaft a fabric ? Either therefore we muft devife fome re-
lief for them in this exigence, or we fhall foon find the poor
remains of the creation in uuer darknefs, and in ihe fha-
dow of death.
(z) As the word Zchar, which we render vjindo-jj, is
never mentioned in the lingular number through the whol»
(x) Revelation Examined, part 1. (y) Howell's Hiftory, vol. 1.
1. 1. (s) Vid .BLlk>tuc.ca Biblica, vol. 1.; Occafiooal annot. xi.
cempafs
2 2 8 The Hlftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. compafs of the Bible, but only this once, it perhaps may be
AnS<*,cfr*7.no veiy ea^ t^^nS to ^nc* out *ts true figniheation. Whe-
1349, &c. tner the LXX interpreters underftood the meaning of it ;
from Gen. whether they knew, in the Greek language, any word
vi. is.. toix.capa|3je of expreffing it ; or whether they might think it
^', .of fo fiicred a nature, as not proper to be publilhed at all :
but fo it is, that they prudently have omitted it in their
tranflation, and will have the precept, or direction, which
God gives Noah, to mean no more, than that he mould
finilh the ark, by doling it on the top, and compacting it
well together.
The word has its original from a verb which fignifles
to burn, or jlrine like oil; and indeed where-ever it occurs
(as it fometimes occurs in the dual number) , it always figni-
iies fome bright and luminous body : and accordingly,
fome of the Jewifh doctors were of opinion, that this mull-
have been a kind of precious ftone, or carbuncle, which
was hung up in the midft of the ark, to give light all a-
round : and to this purpofe, R. Levi tells us, that, " du-
" ring the whole 12 months that Noah was fhut up in the
** ark, he needed neither the light of the fun by day, nor
" the light of the moon by night; for there was a jewel
" belonging to him which he hung up in the ark ; and as
'* it waxed dim, he knew that it was day, but as its luftre
" was more intenfe, he knew that it was night." But this
opinion is not well founded ; becaufe fuch authors as have
written bell upon the qualities of precious ftones, do all
agree, that (whatever the ancients may lay), there is no fuch
thing as a night-mining carbuncle to be found in nature.
That it is poffible to make a felf-ihining fubflance, ei-
ther liquid or folid, the hermetical phoiphor of Balduinus,
the aerial and glacial noctilucas of Mr Boyle, and feveral o-
ther preparations of the like fort, together with the obferva-
tions of the moil accurate philofophers upon the production
and propagation of light, and the pi-odigious ejaculation of
infenlible eftluviums, are a fufficient demonftration. The
mo ft furprifing fubftance of this kind was the pantarba of
Jarchus, " which fhone in the day as fire, or as the fun,
" and at night, did difcover a flame, or light, as bright
" as day, though not altogether fo ftrong ; which was, in
" fliort, of that fiery and radiant nature, that if anyone
" looked on it in the day-time, it would dazzle the eyes
" with innumerable gleams and corufcations :" nor can
we well doubt, but that Noah, who (as oriental traditions
fay) was a profound phiiofopher ; who was certainly a per-
foa
12.
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 229
fon of much longer experience, than any later liver can A. M.
pretend to ; and (what is more) was under the peculiar fa- V Sf'£%
vour and direction of God, perceiving the neceffity of the-549> &c.
thing, fhould be equally able to prepare fome perpetual from Gen.
light, which fhould centrally fend forth its rays to all parts V1
of the ark, and, by its kind effluviums, cheriih every
thing that had life in it. Now, if this bs allowed, (and
this is more confonant to the letter of the text f than any
other interpretation that has hitherto been advanced),
then will all the difficulties, which either are, or can be
raifed about the manner of fubiiftence, in a clofe vefTel, by
creatures of fo many different fpecies, vanifh immediately.
But, if it be not allowed, then it is impoilible, without ad-
mitting a whole train of miracles, to give the leaffc ac-
count, how refpiration, nutrition, motion, or any other
animal function whatever, could be performed in a vefTel
fo clofely fhut up : and therefore, it is the iafeft to conclude,
that, according to the divine direction, there muft have
been fomething placed in the ark, which, by its continual
f P. Lamy, to evade fome difficulties that he could not fo
xvell folve, tells us, That the form of the ark is fo little afcer-
tained by Mofes, that every one is left to his own conjectures con-
cerning it: and therefore, he fhppofes, that as the ark was di-
vided into three {lories, or floors, and the word Zobar, which
we tranflate window, lignifies, fplendor, light, noon, &c. the
whole fecond flory (in which he places the animals) was quite
open all round, except fome parts, which were grated, to hinder
the birds from flying in and out : oiherwife, he cannot conceive,
how they could have had fufficient light, and air, and a free
pafTage for it, to prevent flagnations, and many other inconve-
niencies, which, upon this fuppofition, would have been removed.
The lovveK ftory indeed was included within wooden walls, and.
well guarded with pitch, as being all under water ; but the two
upper ftories, being above water, were either entirely open, or
fecured with lattices and grates ; and the top, or open parts,
covered with goat-(kins, and iheep-fkins, fewed together, (as the
tabernacle afterwards was), which Noah could eaflly let down, or
roll up, according as rain, or florm, or a .want of air made
it necclfary. And then, as for keeping the beads clean, he fup-
pcies, that the flails were fo open and (helving at the bottom,
that water might have been let in, high enough to have warned the.
feet of the cattle, and to have clean led the italls of itfclf. Fid. his
Introduction to the Holy Scriptures, lib. i. cap. 3. ; and Bedford's
Scripture-chronology, cap. n. Rut all this is pure imagination, and
inconliftent with the notion which the facred hiftorygiveusof it.
Vol. I. X x emanation,
230 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I.
A. M. emanation, might both purify and invigorate the included
rtfs<s, ^f- air) might correct and fweeten all noxious vapours and
4349 ^'exhalations;' and, like the fun, fend fuch a vivifying light,
from' Gen. that nothing Ihould die that was within the ark, i. e. fo
far as the beams thereof did reach.
Thus we have refcued Noah and his family from the
How hi thc^anSer °f fuffocation in their confinement, by the fupply
middle re- of a vicarious light, to purify the air, and difpel all va-
gion of thepGurs> ^ wc\\ as enable them to go about their work : but
now, that the waves fwell, and the veffel mounts on high,
even above the top of the higheft hills under heaven, they
run into another quite different danger, viz. that of being
ftarved to death, amidft the colds, and extreme fubtility
of the air, in the middle region, wherein no creature can
live, (a) But the middle region of the air, we ought to
remember, is not to be looked upon as a fixed point, which
never either rifes or falls. It is, with refpect to us, more
or lefs elevated, according to the greater or lefs heat of the
fun. In the cold of winter, it is much nearer to the earth,
than in the warmth of fummer ; or (to fpeak more pro-
perly) the cold which reigns in the middle region of the
air during the fummer, reigns likewife in the lower region
during the winter. Suppofing the deluge then to out-top
the higheft mountains, it is evident, that the middle region
of the air muft have rifen higher, and removed to a great-
er diftance from the earth, and waters ; and, on the con-
trary, that the lower region muft have approached nearer
to both, in proportion as the waters of the deluge in-
creased or decreaied : fo that, upon the whole, the ark
was all along in the lower region of the air, even when it
was carried fifteen cubits above the higheft mountains ; and
the men and beafts which were incloied in it, breathed the
fame air, as they would have done on earth, a thoufand, or
twelve hundred paces lower, had not the deluge happened.
How Noah But during this whole courfe of the ark, fince Noah
could mea- Was fhut up in fo clofe a place, where he was not capable
lure time. Q£ maj-jng any obfervations, where indeed he could fee nei-
ther fun, moon, nor ftars, for many months, it may very
well be wondered, how he could pofftbly have any juft
menfuration of time, had we not reafon to fuppofe, that he
certainly had within the ark a chronometer of one kind or
other, which did exactly aniwer to the motion of the hea-
vens without. The invention of our prefent horological
(<z) Vide Calmct's Dictionary on the word Deluge.
machines
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 231
machines indeed, and particularly of the pendulum watch, A. M.
(which is the moft exact corrector of time), is but of mo" A5jC'cjf v
dern date ; but it does not therefore follow, but that the1349 &CJ
fame, or other equivalent pieces of art, might, in former from Gen.
ages, have been perfectly known to fome great men. Sup-y1- II- to
pofe that Mr Hugens, or fome other, was the inventor of (
pendulums in thele parts of the world, yet it is more than
probable, that there was a pendulum-clock made many years
before at Florence, by the direction of the great Galileo ;
and that, long before that, there was another at Prague,
which the famous Tycho Brahe made ufe of, in his aftrono-
mical obfervations. And therefore, unlefs we fondly ima-
gine, that we poftdiluvians have all the wit and ingenuity
that ever was, we cannot hut think, that Noah, who not
only had long experience hirnfelf, but fucceeded to the in-
ventions of above 1 600 years, (which, considering the lon-
gevity of people then, were much better preferved than they
can be now), was provided with horological pieces of Va-
rious kinds, before he entered the ark. Or, if we can fup-
pofe him deftitute of thefe, yet what we have faid of the
zobar, is enough to evince, that, by the obfervation of that
alone, there could be no difficulty in diftinguifhing the
nights from the days, and keeping a journal accordingly.
But now, that the flood fubfides, and the ark is landed, How ^
and all its inhabitants are to difembark, how can we fuppofe, ^h" 'h 7V
that feveral of the animals fhall be able to find their way the ark,
from the mountains of Armenia, into the diftant parts of might get
the Weft Indies, which (as far as we can find) are joined to ^0ft ',!"%.
no other part of the known world, and yet have creatures
peculiar, and fuch as cannot live in any other climate ?
This is a queftion that we muft own ourfelves ignorant of,
(b) in the fame manner, as we pretend not to fay, by what
means that vaft continent was at firft peopled. But by
what method foever it was that its firft inhabitants came
thither, whether by ftrefs of weather, or defigned adven-
ture, by long voyages by fea, cr (fuppofing a paflage be-
tween one continent and another) by long journeyings by
land, it is plain, that by the fame means, fome creatures
at firft might have been conveyed thither : and as their
number, at that time, could be but fmall, we may fuppofe
that by a promifcuous copulation with one another, they
might beget a fecond fort, which in procefs of time, the
(b) Vid. Univcrfal Hiftory. Of this however we (hall give the
conjectures of the learned, when we come to treat of the difper-
fion of nations in our next book.
X x 2 nature
232 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I .
A. M. nature and temperature of the climate might fo far alter,
t6S6, &c. as to make them pafs for a quite different fpecies, and fo far
Ant. Chnf-afFedt their conftitution, as to make them live not fo com-
from Gen. ' modioufly in any other climate. To convey either men
yi. iz. to or beaft, all on a fudden, from the warmeft parts of Afri-
ca, to the coldefl places in the north, would be a proba-
ble means to make them both perifh ; but the cafe
would not be fo, if they were to be removed by infenfible
degrees, nearer to thofe places : nor can we fay, that there
never were fuch creatures in thofe parts of Alia, where
Noah is thought to have lived, as are now to be found in
America ; becaufe it is very well known, that formerly there
have been many beafts of a particular fpecies in fome coun-
tries, fuch as the hippopotami in Egypt, wolves in England,
and beavers in France, where at prefent there are few or
none of them to be found.
Why God ' I£» after all, it fhould be afked, why God made ufe of this,
made ufe ofrather than any other method, to deftroy the wicked, and
methot7preferve fae righteous ? the proper anfwer is, that whatever
pleafeth him, that hath he done, both in heaven and in
earth ; for as his will is not to be controlled, fo neither is it
to be difputed. For ai'gument's fake, however, let us fuppofe,
for once, that infteadof drowning the world, God had been
pleafed to deftroy by plague, famine, or fome other fore judg-
ment, all mankind, except Noah and his fons, who were to be
eye-witneiTes of this terrible execution : to live to fee the
earth covered with dead bodies, and none left to bury them,
the fields uncultivated, and the cities lie wafle and defolate
without inhabitants, who can conceive what the horror of
fuch a fight would have been ? And who would have been
content to live in fuch a world, to converfe only with the
images of death, and with noifome carcafes ? But God,
in mercy, fhut up Noah in the ark, that he fhould not fee
the terrors and confirmations of finners when the flood
came ; and he wafhed away all the dead bodies into the
caverns of the earth, with all the remains of their old
habitations. So that when Noah came out of the ark* .he
faw nothing to difrurb his imagination, nor any tokens of
that terrible vengeance which had over-run the world,
to offend his fight : only, when he looked about him, and
faw every thing gone, he could not but fall into this con-
templation, that God, when he enters into judgment with
the wicked, (c) will not pity, nor /pare, nor have mercy,
(<:) Jer. xiii. 14,
but
concerning
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 233
but dejlroy. He ivill dafh them one againjl another, even fa- A. M.
ther and foil together, and (d) caufe his fury to reft upon them, ^n5t 'qJ-^
■until his anger be accomp/ifbed. a349) &c.
from Gen.
DISSERTATION VI.
Of Mount Ararat.
BEfore we conclude this chapter, and this book toge-
ther, it may not be improper to give the reader fome
account of the mountains of Ararat in general ; in what
part of the world that particular one which is here intended
is faid to be fituate ; and, according to the relations both
of ancient geographers and modern travellers, of what
form and magnitude this mountain is. But in this inquiry
fome difficulties will arife, by reafon of the different tradi-
tions concerning it.
The author of the verfes * which go under the name Different
of the Sibylline Oracles, places the mountains of Ararat in °Pinions
-^ * * concern ir
the borders of Phrygia, not far from Celaenje, at theit.
head of the two rivers Marfyas and Meander : but it ap-
pears from good authorities, that there is in reality no
mountain at all in that place, or at moft, but a fmall hill,
an eminence made by art, and not by nature : and there-
fore the learned Bochart has happily found out the ground
of this miftake, when he tells us, that not far from this
city Celamse, there is another town called Apamea, and
iirnamed KiSoioe, or the ark ; not from any tradition that
Noah's ark ever refted there, but purely on account of its
fimation, becaufe it is encompafled with three rivers, Mar-
(d) Ezek. v. 13.
* The vcrfts, as they are fet down by GalUm de Sibyllis,
p. 589. are thefe :
'Eri if tic <$>pvyl*<; irl vrtiptto xi\amc
'H\lQa.1ov Tavii,«»xfc opoc, *ApapaT Si y.a\i~TCCi m
Mapo-iiw tvOa fkiS Sf /u.eyd\v ■xo1a.fjt.0L0 xifuxat,
TS it KiC«7Jc ef/.cmv ev \i-ln\o~o xecpnyep.
Bat that which (hews the fpurioufnefs of thefe verfes, is this :
That the Sibyl, fpeaking of herfelf as contemporary with
Noah, takes notice of the river Marfyas, which, whatever name
it had at firft, was certainly, after the death of Midas, called the
fountain of Midas, and retained that name until the time of
Marfyas, by whom it was altered ; and this muft be long after
the death of this Sybil ; Bedford's Seripture-ckronology. I. 2.
C 2.
fyas,
234 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, . Book I.
A. M. fyas, Obrimas, and Orgas, which give it the refemblance o£
1656, &c. a ciaeft or 2Lrk, in the fame manner that the port of Alex-
1349, ^"'andria was fo called, by reafon of the bay which inclofed
from' Gen. the fhips.
yi. ii. to Sir Walter Raleigh, (e), and from him fome later wri-
ters (/) are of opinion, that the mountains of Ararat
were thofe of Caucafus, towards Bactria and Saga Scythia.
This, as they imagine, agrees with the general notion, that
the Scythians might contend for the antiquity of their ori-
ginal with any other nation ; with the Chaldean tradition,
concerning the actions of their great man Xifuthrus, who
is commonly fuppofed to be the fame with Noah ; with the
language, learning, and hiftory of the Chinefe, who arc
thought to be Noah's immediate defcendents ; and with the
journey which fome of his other defcendents are faid to
have took, viz. (g) from the eaft to the land of Shinar.
A modern chronologer has endeavoured to prove, that the
place where Noah built the ark was called Cypari/fon, not
far from the river Tigris, and on the north-eaft fide of
the city of Babylon ; that while the flood continued, it
failed from thence to the north-eaft, as far as the Cafpian
fea, and when the flood abated, the north-wind brought
it back by a fouthern courfe, and landed it upon Mount
Caucafus, eaft of Babylon, and about nine degrees diftant
from it in longitude ; and that this opinion, as he imagines,
is more agreeable to the courfe which the ark, by meet-
ing with contrary currents, would be forced to make ; to
the fen fe of Scripture, in bringing the fons of Noah from
the eaft, and in fettling the children of Shem (who went
not to Shinar) in this place, and to the great conveniency
of Noah's landing not too far from the country where he
lived before the flood, that thereby he might be capable of
giving better directions to his family how to difperfe them-
felves, and toreplenifh the new world as occafion did require.
But befides that there appears little or no authority for all
this, the obfervation of travellers into thofe countries may
make it be queltioned, whether fuch a veffel as the ark
is reprefented, drawing much water, and very unfit for fail-
ing, could be able to reach mount Caucafus from the pro-
vince of Eden (where it is generally thought to have been
built) in the fpace of the flood's increafe, which was no
more than an hundred and fifty days. The moft probable
(<?) His Hiftory of the world. (f) Heylin's Cofmogra-
fktyi and Shuckford's ConnecTion, 1. 2. (g) Gen. xi. 2.
opinion
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 235
opinion therefore is, that by the word Ararat, the Holy a. M.
Scriptures denote that country which the Greeks, and from i6s<5, &c.
them other weflern nations, do call Armenia. In this Am- Ch11^
fenfe it is taken by the Septuagint, by the Chaldee para- fr304^' Ge£
phrafe, by the Vulgate, by Theodoret, and by divers o- vi. 1*. to
thers. The learned Bochart has brought together a multi- 1X- ao-
tude of arguments, all tending to the fame conclufion : "^
but then the queftion is, on what particular mountain it
was that the ark landed ?
1 . The moft prevailing opinion for fome time was, that The moft
one of the mountains which divide Armenia on the fouth confider-
from Mefopotamia, and that part of Aflyria which is inha- a^le-
bited by the Curds, (from whence the mountains took the
name Curdu), which the Greeks changed into Gordiwi,
* and feveral other names, was the place where the ark
landed : and what makes tor this opinion, is, that whereas
the deluge was in a great meafure occafioned by the over-
flowing of the ocean, as the Scriptures tell us, that flux of
waters which came from the Perlian fea, running from the
fouth, and meeting the ark, would of courfe carry it north-
ward upon the Gordiaean mountains, which feems to be
voyage enough for a vefiel of its bulk and ftructure to make
in the flated time of the flood's increafe.
The tradition which affirms the ark to have reftcd on
thefe mountains, muff have been, very ancient, fince it is
the tradition of the Chaldeans themfelves, and in former
ages was very little queftioned, till men came to inquire in-
to the particular part of thofe mountains whereon it fettled,
and then the authors feemed to place it out of Armenia ;
Epiphaniuson the mount Lubar, between the country of the
Armenians and Gordiseans ; and all the eaftern authors,
both Chriflian and Mahometan, on mount Themanin, or
Al-Judi, which overlooks the country of Diarrhabia, or
Moulfal, in Mefopotamia.
To confirm this tradition however, we are told, that
the remainders of the ark were to be feen upon thefe
mountains. Berofus and Abydenus both declare, that there
was fuch a report in their time ; the former obi'erves far-
ther, that feveral of the inhabitants thereabouts fcraped the
* The Greek and Latin writers name them Carduchi, Car-
diei, Cordi.ri, Corduc/ii, Cordi, Cordeei, Curd':, 3cc. The ori-
entals call them likewife Cordon, Cordytt. Curud, &c. Bod
fuppofes diat they are the fame which are called by miftake in Jo-
fephus, Car on* Fid. Univcrf. hift. ; and Phalcg. lib. I. cap. 3.
itch
2 3 6 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book I .
A. M. pitch off the planks as a rarity, and carried it about them
1656, &c. for an amulet; and the latter fays, that they ufed the
" ^' 'wood of the veiTel againft feveral difeafes with wonderful
from Gen. fuccefs ; as the relicks of this ark were likewife to be feen
yi. u. to in the time of Epiphanius, if we may believe him. The
town of Themanin, which fignifies eight, fttuate at the foot
of the mountain Al-Judi, was built, we are told, in me-
mory of the eight perfons who came out of the ark ; and
formerly there was a monaftery, called the monaftery of the
ark, upon the Curdu mountains, where the Neftorians u-
fed to celebrate a feftival, on the very fpot where they fup-
pofed the ark flopped : but in the year of Chrift 776,
that monaftery was deftroyed by lightning, together with
the church, and a numerous congregation in it ; and fince
that time, the credit of this tradition has in fome meafure
declined, and given place to another, wnich at prefent
prevails.
2- This opinion places mount Ararat towards the middle
of Armenia, near the river Araxes, or Aras, above 280
miles diftant from Al-Judi, to the north-eaft. (h) St Je-
rom feems to have been the firft who hath given us an ac-
count of this ti'adition. " Ararat (fays he) is a champain
" country, incredibly fertile, through which the Araxes
" flows at the foot of mount Taurus, which extends fo
. *' far ; fo that by the mountains of Ararat, whereon the
<£ ark refted, we are not to underftand the mountains of
" Armenia in general, but the higheft mountains of Tau-
" rus, which overlook the plains of Ararat." Since his
time, its fkuation in this place has been remarked by feveral
other writers ; and all the travellers into thefe places now
make mention of no other mount of Ararat than what the
Armenians call Mafis, (from Amafia, the third fucceflbr
of Haikh, the founder of their nation), and what the Ma-
hometans do fometimes name Agri-dagh, i. e. the heavy or
great mountain, and fometimes Parmak-dagh, the finger-
mountain, alluding to its appearance ; for as it is ftrait, ve-
ry fteep, and ftands by itfelf, it feems to refemble a finger,
when held up.
A defcrip- <-£^ mount Ararat, which the Armenians, as we faid,
mount A- ca^ Mafis, and fometimes MefefouJJar, (becaufe the ark
iarat. was ftopped there when the waters of the flood began to
abate, ftands about twelve leagues to the eaft (or rather
fouth-eaft) of Erivan, (a fmall city featcd in the upper
(h) In Ifaiah xxxvii.
Armenia),
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 2;;
Armenia) four leagues from Aras, or Araxes, and ten to A. M.
the north-weft of Nakfchivan ; which, bee 1
Armenian, fignifies ajbij>t tttdjcbi
is iuppoied to have its name from the fame occasion. This from*
mountain is encompalTed by feveral little hills, and oa thr ; ■
top of them are found many ruins, which are thought to '*' *Z ± j
have been the buildings of the firft men, who might fi
for fome time, to go down into the plains. It ftands by
itfelf, in the form of a fugar-loif, in the midft of one of
the greateft plains that is to befeen, andfeparated from the
other mountains of Armenia, which make a long chain.
It conlifts of two hills, whereof the leis is more iharp and
pointed ; but the larger (which is that of the ark) lies
north-eaft of it, and rears its head far above the neigh-
bouring mountains. It feems fo high and big indeed, that
when the air is^clear, it does not appear to be above two
leagues from Erivan, and yet may be feeri fome four or
five days journey o-T; but from the middle to the top, it
is always covered with fnow, and for the fpace of three or
four months in the year, has its upper part commonly hid
in the clouds.
The Armenians have a tradition, that on the fummit
of this mountain there is ftill a confiderable part of the
ark remaining, but that it is impolilble to get up to the
top of it. (z) For they tell us of one traveller, a perlbn
of lingular piety, who endeavoured to do it, and had ad-
vanced as far as the middle of the mountain ; when, being
thirfty, and wanting water, he put up a prayer to God,
who caufed a fountain to fpring out of the ground for him,
and fo faved his life-, but at the fame time, he heard a
voice, faying, Let none be fo bold .:s to go up to the top of this
mountain.
How difficult the afcent of this mountain is (without
any particular revelation) we may inform curfehes from
the following account which Mr Tournefort gives us of it.
" About two o'clock in the afternobn, (r) (fays he), Tdiirhe;
" we began to afcend the mountain Ararat, but not with-5 ■■■-">
" out difficulty. We were forced to climb up in loof/'''u'iroiu-
" fand, where wc faw nothing but fome juniper and
" goats-thorn. The mountain, which lies fouth and
" fouth-fouth-eaft from Eimiadzim, ox tfa three church
(i) La Boulayc's Voyages. {k) I Tiii I . ' s into the
Levant, letter 7.
Vol. I. Y y " is
?. 3 S . The Hiitory of the BIBLE, Book I.
" Is one of the moft fad and difagreeable fights upon earth ;
" for there are neither trees nor fhrubs upon it, nor any
" convents of religions, either Armenians or Franks.
" All the monaileries are in the plain, nor can I think the'
" place inhabitable in any part, becaufe the foil of the
" mountain is loofe, and moft of it covered with fho'w.
" From the top of a great abyfs, (as dreadful an hole
" as ever was fecn), oppofite to the village of Akurlu,
" (from whence wc came), there continually fall down
" rocks of a blackifh hard ftone, which make a terrible
" refound. This, and the noife of the crows that are con-
'*' tinually living from one fide to the other, has fomethinp
" in it very frightful ; and to form any notion of the place,
" you mtift imagine One of the higheft mountains in the
" world opening its bofom, only to ihevv one of the moft
" horrid fpe&acles that can be thought of. No living a-
" ninials are to be feen but at the bottom, and towards
" the middle of the mountain. They who occupy the
" loweft region, are poor fhepherds and fcabby flocks.
** The ffecOnd region is polleiled by crows and tygers,
" which we palled by, not without giving us fome dread
'; anduneafinefs. All the reft of it, i.e. half of it, has
" been covered, with friow ever fince the ark refted there,
" and thefe iiiows are covered half the year with very thick
" clouds.
" Notwithftandihg the amazement which this frieht-
'•' ful folitude caft us into, we endeavoured to find, out
" the monaftery we were told of, and inquired whether
" there were any religious in caverns. The notion they
" have in the'eountry, that the ark refted here, and the
" veneration which all the Armenians have for this moun-
" tain, (for they kifs the earth as foon as they fee it, and
" repeat certain prayers after they have made the fign of
K the crofs), have made many imagine, that it muft be filled
'• with religions. However, they afTured us that there was
" only cne forfakeri convent at the foot of the gulf; that
" there was no .fountain throughout the whole mount;
" and that we could not go in a whole day to the fnow,
"-and down again to the bottom of the abyfs ; that the
" fhepherds often loft their way; and that we might judge
" what a inifer&ble place it was, from the necefiity they
" y.xre under to dig the earth from time to time, to find
" a fpring of wateV for rhcmfelves and their flocks ; and
" in fhoit, that it would be folly to proceed orrouf way,
" becaiift they were foiisfifd cm" Ifgs would fail us'; nor
*< would ,
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. 239
" would they be obliged to accompany us for all the trea- A M. -
" fares of the King of Perfia. l6$6> &'•■
" When we conlidered what the fhepherds had tcld us,,34'9 &£
" we advifed with our guides ; and they, good men, un- from Gen.
" willing to expofe themfelves to the danger of dying for Ylm I?-- to
"'' thirft, and having no curiofity, at the expence of their V
" legs, to meafure the height of the mountain, were ar.
" iirft of the fune fentiments with the fhepherds ; but af-
" terwards concluded, that we might go to certain rocks
*' which were more prominent and vilible than the reft,
" and fo return by night to the place where we were ; .and
" with that refolution we went to reft. In the morning,
" after that we had eat and drank very plentifully, we be-
" gan to travel towards the firft ridge of rocks, with one
" bottle of water, which, to cafe ourfelves, we carried
" by turns; but nGtwithftanding we had made pitchers
" of our bellies, in two hours time they were quite dried
" up ; and as water fhook in a bottle is no very plea-
" lant liquor, our hopes were, that when we came
" to the fnow, we fhould eat fome of it to quench our
f* thirft.
" It niiift be acknowledged, that the fight is very much
" deceived when we ftand at the bottom, and guels at the
" height of a mountain ; and efpecially, when it muft be
f* afcended. through fands as troublefome as the Syrtes of
" Africa. It is impoffible to take one firm ftep upon the*
" lands of mount Ararat ; in many places, inftead of
" afcending, we were obliged to go back again to the middle
f* of the mountain ; and, in order to continue our courfe,
«' to wind fometimes to the right, and ibmetimes to the
" left.
" To avoid thefe fands, which fatigued us moft into-
** lerably, we made our way to the great rocks, which
" were heaped one upon another. We palled under
" them, as through caverns, and were fheltered from all
" the injuries of the weather, except cold, which was
" here fo keen and intenfe, that we were forced to leave
1" the place, and came into a very troublefome way, full
" of large ftones, fuch as mafons make \if< '-of in building,
" and were forced to leap from ftone to ftone, till I,
f for my part, was heartily weary, and began to fit down,
" and repofe nryfelf a little, as the reft of the company
ft did.
72 M After
!4Q The Hifibry of the BIBLE, Book I.
f After we had refted ourfelves, we came about
noon to a place which afforded us a more pleafing
pro fp set. We imagined ourfelves fo near, that we could
u hive ever* touched the fnow (we thought) with our teeth;
" but our joy lafted not long ; for what we had taken for
" fnow, proved only a chalk-rock, which hid from our
f* fight a tracl of land above two hours journey diftant
"•' from the fnow, and which feemed to have a new kind
*' of pavement, made of fmall pieces of ftones broke off
" by the froft, and whofe edges were as fharp as flints.
" Oar guides told us, that their feet were quite bare, and
" that ours in a fhort time would be fo too; that it
< ' grew late, and we mould certainly lofe ourfelves in the
'* night, or break our necks in the dark, unlefs we would
" chufe to fit clown, and fo become a prey to the tygers.
" All this feemed very feafible ; and therefore we allured
" them, that we would go no farther than the heap of
" fnow, which we fhewed them, and which, at that di-
" ftance, appeared hardly bigger than a cake ; but when
■'• we came to it, we found it more than we had occaiion
" for; the heap was above thirty paces in diameter. We
J* every one erst as much as we had a mind for, and fo, by
" cpnfent, refolyed to advance no farther. It cannot be
" imagined how much the eating of fnow revives and in-
" vigorates-: we therefore began to defcend the mountain
'* with a great deal of alacrity ; but we had not gone far,
" before we came to fands, which lay behind the abyfs,
t' and were fail as troublefome as the former ; fo that a-
:< bout fix in the afternoon we found ourfelves quite
f' tired out and (pent. At length, obfervinga place covered
" with mcufe-eau, whofe declivity feemed to favour our
" defcent, we made to it with ail fpeed, and (what pleafed
V us mighty well) from hence it was that our guides fliew-
" ed us (thqugh at a ■ confiderabie diftance) the monaftery,
" whither we were to go to quench our thirft. I leave it
f to be guefled., what method Noah madeufeofto defcend
" from this place, who might have rid upon fo many forts
' of animsds, which were all at his command : but as for
us, we laid ourfelves upon our backs, and Aid down fbr
:' an hour together upon this green plat, and fo paffed on
' very agreeably, and much fa.'ler than we could have
•' gone upon our legs. The night and our thirft were a
' kind of fpurs to us, and made us make the greater
: We continued/ therefore Aiding in; this manner,
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood. '241
" as long as the way would permit ; and when we met A. M.
" with {mail flints which hurt our Ihoulders, we turned '^'£*Jjq
11 and Aid on our bellies, or went backwards on all four. 1349j ^
" Thus br degrees we gained the monaftery ; but fo dif- from Gen.
" ordered and fatigued by our manner of travelling, thatvi- u,toa-
'•' we were not able to move hand or foot." '._'—- _J
I have made my quotation from this learned botanift
and moft accurate traveller the longer, not only becaufe it
gives us a full idea of the mountain, fo far as he afcended,
but fome diftruft likewife of the veracity (/) of a certain
Dutch voyager, who feems to afilire us, that he went five
days journey up mount Ararat to fee a Pvomifli hermit ;
that he paiTed through three regions of the clouds, the firft
dark and thick, the next cold and full of mow, and the
third colder ftill ; that he advanced five miles every day,
and when he came to the place where the hermit had his
cell, he breathed a very ferene and temperate air; that the
hermit told him, he had perceived neither wind nor rain
ail the five and twenty years that he had dwelt there ; and
that on the top of the mountain there ftill reigned a greater
tranquillity, which was a means to preferve the ark without
decay or putrefaction.
There is one objection which may be made to all that An objeo
we have faid concerning the fituation of this famous moun-^011 ftated
tain", and that is,- — Whereas the fons of Noah, wnenfwered.~
they qtutted the country where the ark refted, are faid to
(m) journey from the eajl into the land of Shinar, it is plain,
that if they removed from any part of Armenia, they muff,
have gone from the north or north-weft ; but this rre
ftiall take occafion to examine when we come to treat of
their migration. In the mean time, it is worthy cur ob-
servation, and fome argument of our being in the right,
(n) that the fituation of Ararat, as we have fuppofed it,
whether it be mount Mafis, or the mountain of Cardu, was
very convenient for the joui'ney of the fons of Noah, be-
caufe the diftance is not very great, and the defcent eafy,
eipecially from the latter, into the plains of Mesopotamia,
whereof Shinar is a part. Nor ihould we forget, that the
hbourhood, which the facred hiftory, by this means,
pn ferves between the' land of Eden, where man was crea-
ted, that of Ararat, where the remains of mankind were
(/) Strojrs's Voyages, chap. 17. (m) Gen. xi. 2.
vcrf. Hift. V- 1. c.i. p. -io.
ed 5
242 The Hiflory of the BIBLE,- Book I.
A. M. faved ; and that of Shinar, where they fixed the centre of
Aat'chi'if.^'11- P^antations> ls much more natural, and feems to have
2.340, &c. a better face and appearance of truth, than to place thefe
from Gen. fcenes at fo vaft a diftance, as fome commentators have
vi.Ia.toix.done>
%m^~s-m-J ^ne ln(lullT more, not concerning mount Ararat only,
That there but every other mountain that is difperfed over the whole
■weremouK-earth, is this, --—Whether they were in being before the
^^reinduaion of the flood ? The ingenious author of the
6 Theory, fo often quoted, is clearly of opinion, that (0) the
. face of the earth, before the deluge, was fmootli, regular,
and uniform, without mountains, and without a fea J and
that the rocks and mountains which every where now ap-
pear, were made by the violent concufiions which then
happened, and are indeed nothing elfe but the ruins and
fragments of the old world. But all this is confuted by
the teftimony of divine wifdom, who declaring her own
prc-exiftence, (p) I was fet tip from everlajiing, fays fhe,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was; when there
was no depth, I was brought forth ; when there were no
fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were
fettled, before the hills was I brought forth ; while as yet
God had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highefl
fart of the dufi of the world. So that, according to this
declaration, not only the fountains of waters which we
fee upon the face of the earth, but even mountains (which
fome have accounted its greateft deformities) and all hills
were part of the original creation, and cotemporary with
the firft foundations of the earth : and though a deluge
can fcarce be fuppofed to overfpread the globe, without
making fome tranfmutationin it, yet that it could not
fhock the pillars of the round world, or caufe a total
di Ablution in nature, we have the fame divine teftimony
.afiuring us, that at the time of the firft creation, (q) God
laid the foundatio?i of the earth fo jure, that it flmdd not be
removed for ever.
Tfcfir nfe ^ is a groimdlefs imagination then to afcribe the origin
and plea- of mountains and other lofty eminences to a certain dif-
faands. ruption of the earth in the time of the deluge ; when
God, from the very firft beginning, defigned them for fuch
excellent purpofes. For, belldes that feveral of thefe rocks
(0) Burnet's Theory, 1. 1. c, 5. (/>) Prov. viii. 23. ire.
(r) Pfal, civ. 5.
and
Chap. VI. from the Creation to the Flood*. 243
and mountains (as well as the broad fea) are really an aw- A, M.
fulfieht, and fill the mind with iuft notions of God's tre- \6>6> **■
mendous Majefty, which a fmall river or a fmooth filr-a ' &l
face does not do fo well ; and belides, that they yield food from Gen.
for feveral animals formed by nature to live upon them, Y1' ,a- to
and fupply us from without with many wholefome plants, ,
and from within with many ufeful metals ; by condenfing
the vapours, and fo producing rain, fountains, and ri-
vers, they give the very plains and valleys themfelves the
fertility which they boail of. For this feems to be the
deiign of hills, (fays (r) a learned inquirer into the ori-
ginal of fprings and fountains), " That their ridges, be-
" ing placed through the miclft of the continent, mighf
" ferve, as it were, for alembicks, to diftil frefh water for
" the ufe of man and beaft ; and their heights to give a
" defcent to thofe ftreams which run gently, like fo many
'■ veins of the microcofm, to be the more beneficial to the
" creation."
(s) Nay, we may appeal to the fenfe of minkind,
whether a land of hills and dales has not more pleafure
and beauty both than any uniform flat, which then only
affords delight when it is viewed from the top of an hill.
For what were the Tempe of ThefTaly, fo celebrated in an-
cient ftory for their unparallellcd plcafantnefs, but a vale
divided by a river, and terminated with hills ? Are not all
the defcriptions of poets embellifhed with fuch ideas, when
they would reprcfent any places of fuperlative delight, any
blifsful feats of the mufes and nymphs, any facred habita-
tions of gods and goddefles ? They will never admit that a
wild flat can be pleafant, no not in the * Elyfian fields :
they too muft be diversified. Swelling defcents and de-
clining vallies are their chief beauties ; nor can they ima-
gine # even paradife a place of pleafure, or heaven itfelf
* to be heaven without them. 80 that fuch a place as our
preient earth is, diflinguifhed into mountains, rivers, vales,
(r) Dr Halley. (/) Bentlcy's Sermons at Boyle's leclures.
* At pater Anchifes penitus convallc virenti,
Hoc fupcratc jugun;-— et tutuulum cr.pic. V'ir. JE71. 6,
* flowers worthy of paradife, which not wife ar:,
In beds and curious knots, bat nature boon,
Pour'd forth profufc, on hills, and dale, and plain.
* For earth haih this variety from her.v'n
Of pleafure, fttuate on ; ill or date. Mfflon's Paradife loO, hc-A 4.
ard
244 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book I.
A. M. and hills, muff, even in point of pleafure, claim a pre-e-
,<Js<f» ^.'.minence before any other, that prefenting us with no more
.,,/o 'than a ilnele fcene, and, in one continued plain fuoerficies,
from Gen. muft of neceffity pall the prolpedt. But then, if we conii-
yi. ii. to der farther the riches that are repofited in thefe mountains,
the gold and precious ftones, the coal, the lead, the tin,
and other valuable minerals that are dug out of their bow-
els, all ufeful in their kinds, and fitted for the accommo-
dation of human life, we ihall be apt to overlook the fan-
taftical pleafantnefs of a fmooth outfide, and to think with
Mofes, the man of God, that (t) Bleffed of the Lord is any
land for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the
precious things of the lajiing hills.
(t) Deut. xxxiii. 13. 15-
The end of the frjl book.
THE
THE
HISTORY
O F T H E
B I B L E.
B O O K II.
Containing an account of things from the Flood to
the Call of Abraham ; in all, 426 years, and
fix months.
CHAP. I,
The remainder of -what is recorded of Noah, to his death.
The History.
AS foon as Noah and his family were landed, and &.. M.
all the creatures committed to his charge were AnV'chriV
come fafe out of the ark, he felected fome of 1347, <tc. '
every kind, both beafts and birds, but fuch onlytr.(?.m Gen-
as were clean, and, by God's appointment, proper for fa-^"e*°, x%
crifice"; and having built the fir ft altar that we read of, ch. 9.
reftored the ancient rite of divine worihip, and f offered ^-— -v- *-J
burnt- N??h's Sa-
crifice, and
the promf*
f Jnfephus tells us, that Noali, in a perfuafion that God had fes and
doomed mankind to deflruetion, lay under a mortal dr ad for g' *nts
fear of the fame judgment over again, and that it would end in v;llicn God
an anniverfary inundation; fo that he prefented himfelf before gives
the Lord with facrifices and prayers, " humbly befeeching him,
ft in mercy, to preferve the order of the world in its frame ;
Vol. I. Z z " w
246 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. burnt-facrifices thereon. And this he did with fo grateful
1657. ire. a fenfe of the divine goodnefs, and fo reverential a fear
c' " 'of the divine maiefty, as procured him a gracious accept-
2347, &c. j • n- r i_ r 1
from Gen. ance, and in teiumony or that acceptance, feveral grants
viii. ao. to and promifes.
the end of God's promifes were, that J though mankind were na-
iturally wicked, and apt to go aftray from the very womb,
yet, be their iniquities ever fo great, he would not any
more deftroy the earth f by a general deluge, or difturb
the order of nature, and % the feveral feafons of the year,
and
<c to punifli the guilty, and fpare the lives of the innocent ; and
" not to proceed with rigour, for the wickednefs of fome -partial-
" lars, to the deftruition of the whole ; oiherwife the furvivers of
" this calamity would be more wretched than thofe that were
t( warned away in the common ruin, if, afier having fuffered
i( horror of thought, and the terror of fo difmal a Ipectacle, they
" fhould only be delivered from one calamity, to be confumed by
" another;" 4ntiq, 1, r. c. 4. But that this fliould be the pur-
port of his prayer is not very likely, becaufe we find no fiich in-
dications of terror in Noah, who knew die great and criminal
caufes of the deluge to be fach, as could in* happen every year,
and who having found favour in the eyes of God, and a miracu-
lous prefervation from a general deftruction, can hardly be fup-
pofed to have caft away his confidence in him fo foon, and inftead
thereof, to be polfc-fTed with an abject and fervile fear : and there-
fore we may conclude, that the nature of his prayer and facrifice
was euchat iftical, and not deprecatory ; Heidegger s Hifl. patriar.
exercit 19.
J The. words in our tranflation are, J -will not again curfe the
ground any more jor man's Jake, for the imagination of man's
heart is evil; which is certainly very mjurioufly rendered, becaufe
it makes the facred author fpeak quite contraryto what he defign-
ed, and is an affront to the juflice, goodnefs, and wifdom of God,
1 who, by this tranflation of/or inftead of though, might feem to
blefs man for his evil imaginations ; Fffay for a new tranflation.
•f- For particular inundations there have been at feveral times,
in divers places, whereby towns and countries have been over-
whelmed, with all their inhabitants ; Pool's Annotations.
% All the verfions do manifeftly in this place confound the
four feafons of the year, which Mofes exactly diftinguifhes. For
the Hebrew word kor, which they render co/d, fignifies the win*
tert becaufe of the cold that then reigns. The word chomt
which they render heat, fignifies the Jpriug, becaufe of the heat
which abounds in Judea about the end of thefpring, in the
months
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 247
and their regular viciffitudes : and in confirmation of this, a. M.
he appointed the rainbow for a token, which (whether it 1(5s 7. "f-
ufed to appear before the flood or no) was now to be the '^T1
ratification of the truth of his promife, and his faithful from' Gen.
witnefs in heaven. viii. %o. to
The grants which God gave Noah and his fons were ll?c cnd of
not only * the fame dominion which our firft parents be-
fore
months of May and June, which are the harveft-time in that
country. The word kajts, which they render fummer, does
indeed fignify fo ; but then the word chcroph, which they term
the -whiter, fhould be rendered autumn, which is the time of
plowing and cultivating the ground, as may be feen Prov. xx.
4. So that the whole fentencc, which contains the promife of
God, Gen. viii. 22. if rendered jtiftly, fhould run thus, While
the earth remaineth, feed-time and harvejl, winter and fpring,
fummer and autumn, day and night, jhall not ceafe ; an Eifay
for a new tranflation. We cannot but obferve however, that this
viciffitude of times and feafons, which is here promifed as a bleifing
to mankind, is a full confutation of the dreams of fuch writers as
are apt to fancy, " That in th£ primordial earth there was every
u where a perpetual fpring and equinox ; that all the parts of the
** year had one and the fame tenor, face, and temper; and that
" there was no winter or fummer, feed-time or harveil, but a
te continual temperature of the air, and verdure of the earth ;"
which, if it were true, would make this promife of God a punilh-
ment, rather than a blemng to mankind Vid Burnet's Theory,
/. 2. c. 3. ; and Heidegger's HiJ'r. patriar. exerat. 19.
* A learned and Right Reverend author, to (hew the reno-
vation of the earth alter die deluge, and its deliverance from
the curfe inflicted upon it by reafon of Adam's tranfgreffion,
runs the parallel between the bleilings and privileges granted
to Adam foon after his creation, and thofe reflortd to Noah and
his pofterity foon after the flood. To our firft parents it
is faid, Have dominion over the fifh of the fea, and over the
fowl of the air, and ever every living thing that moveth on the
earth, Gen. i. 28. To Noaii and his fens it is faid, The fear
(if you , and the dread of 'you , Jhall he upon every 'beajl of the earth,
and upon every fowl f the air, ai.d upon all that moveth upon
the earth, and upon alt the fifhes of the fea, into your hand are
they delivered, Gen. ix. 2. To Adam ?.ud Eve are granted for
food, Every kerb bearing feed at d every tree, in the which
is the fruit of the tree, yielding fed, Gen i 29. But Noah and
his fons have a larger charter, Every moving thing that
l.'.-tth fj;al! b: meat to you, even as the green herb, h 1 /
2 z 2 given
M The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. m. fore the fall had over the animal creation, and a full
AnV'oT'f Power to keeP them in fubmiffion and fubjeclion ; but a
1347, &c. Privilege likewife to kill any of thefe creatures for food ;
fr. m Gen. only with this reftriction, that they were not to f put them
vii;. 10. to to unneceflary torture, or to eat any part of their blood,
ch Qnd °f wn^ch might be a means to introduce the fhedding of hu-
,man blood. The human kind, notwithstanding their apo-
given j ou all things. Gen. ix. 3. The bleffing upon the earth
at the creation was, Let the earth bring forth grafs, and
herb yielding feed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his
kind, Gen. i 1 1. The blefling after the flood is, While
the earth remaineth, feed-time and harveft Jhall not ceafe, Gen.
viii. 22. In the beginning, the lights in the firma??ieni l were
appointed to divide the day from the night, and to be jorjeafons,
and for days, and years, Gen. i. 14. After the flood, the new
bleiling is, That fpring and autumn, funimer and winter,
and day and night, Jhall net ceafe, Gen. viii. 22 Whereupon
our author afks, What is bellowed in the firft bleffings that is
wanted in the fecond ? What more did Adam enjoy in his hap-
pieft days ? What more did he forfeit in his worft, with refpect
to this life, than that which is contained in thefe bleffings ! If
he neither had more, nor loft more, all thefe bleffings you fee
exprefsly reftored to Noah and his pofttrity : and from all this
laid together, he concludes, that the old curfe upon the ground was,
after the deluge, fcniihed and completed ; Uje and intent of pre-'
phecy, p 91.
-f 1 he words in the text are,— Bid fejfj, with the life there'
cf, which is the blood thereof. Jf.all yctt 7iot eat. This the He-
brew doctors generally underfland to be a prohibition to cut ofTa-
ny limb of a living cieature, and to eat it, while the life, i.e. the
blood, was in it; dum adhuc vivit, et patpitat, feu treviit, as a
modern interpreter has truly explained their fenfe. And in this
they are followed by feveral Chriftians, who think (as JVlaimoni-
des did) that there were fome people in the old world fo favagc
and barbarous, that they did eat raw flefh, while it was yet warm
from the be a ft out of whofe body it was cut pit ce-meal. Plutarch
tells us, that it was cuftomary in his time to run red hot fpits
through the bellies of live fwine, to make their fleih more delici-
ous ; and 1 believe fome among us have heard of whipping pigs,
and torturing other creatures to death for the fame purpofe. Now
thefe things could not be committed, if iuch men thought ihtm-
felves bound in confeience to abftain from all unneceflary cruelties
to the creatures, and to bleed them to death with all the difpatch
they could, before they touched them for food. Vid. Patrick's
Commentary • and Revelation examined, vol. 2. /. 20.
ftacv..
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 249
ftacy, did (till retain fome lineaments of the divine fimili- A. M.
rude ; and therefore, whofoever murthered any of" them, l6s<>, &c.
did thereby deface the image of God ; and whether it were nt' j
man f or beaft, ftranger or near relation, was appointed from' Gen.
by the magiftrate to be put to death : and with thefe grants v™- »<>• to
and promifes, he gave them encouragement (as he did l!ie end of
our firft progenitors) to be fruitful and multiply, and re- (
plenifh the earth, which was now left almoft deftitute of in-
habitants.
But how much foever the deluge might deprive the
earth of its inhabitants, it had not fo totally deft royed the
trees, and plants, and other vegetables, but that, in a
fhort time, they began to appear again ; and being en-
couraged by the kindly warmth of the fun, difcovered their
feveral fpecies by the-feveral fruits they bore. Noah be-
fore the flood f had applied hirhfelf to hufbandry, and
now, upon the recovery of the earth again, betook him-
felf to the fame occupation. Among his other improve-
ments of the ground, he had planted a vineyard, and
perhaps was the firft man who invented a prefs to fqueeze
the juice out of the grape, and fo make wine. Natural
curiofity might tempt him to tafte the fruit of his own la-
bour ; but being either unacquainted with the ftrength of
this liquor, or, through age and infirmity, unable to bear
it, fo it was, that drinking a little too freely, he became
quite intoxicated with it ; and fo falling afleep in his tent,
-f- If it here (hould be afked, How any beaft that is neither ca-
pable of virtue or vice can be deemed culpable, in cafe it {hould
chance to kill any man ? The anlwer is, That this law was or-
dained for the benefit of men, for whofe ufe all beafts were cre-
ated. For, ift, Such owners as were not careful to prevent fuch
mifchiefs, were hereby punifhed ; 2dly, Others were admoniih-
ed by their example to be cautious ; ^d\y, God thereby inftrucled
them, that murder was a mod grievous crime, whofc punifhment
extended even to beafts ; and, 4thly, The lives of men were
hereby much fecured, when fuch beafts as might do the like mil-
chief another time, were immediately difpatched, and taken out of
the way ; Patrick's Ccvwieutary .
f Anciently the grtatcft men eftecmed nothing more honour-
able, and worthy their ftudy, than the art of agiiculture. A7-
kil iomine libera digmtes, nothing more becoming a gentleman,
was the faying of the Roman orator ; and for the truth of this,
the Fabii, the Cato's, the Varro's, the Virgil's, the I'liny's, and
other great names, are fufficicnt witnefTes ; Bibliahsca Biblica,
vol. 1. p. 251.
lay
250 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. lay with his body uncovered, and in a very indecent po-
Aat'ctuir. fture' was exP°fed to tne eyes of his children.
3347, &c.' Ham, who efpied his father in this condition, inftead of
from Gen. concealing his weaknefs, proclaimed it aloud, and to his o-
dnf *d f^ier two brothers Shem and Japhet made him the fubjecl
ch. 9. of his fcorn and derifion : but fo far were they from being
t.—^^— jpleafed with his behaviour in this refpecl, that taking a gar-
Ham'* im- ment, and laying it upon both their lhoulders, they went
his df ^h l° backward, till, coming to their father, they dropt the
Noah. garment upon him, and fo covered the nakednefs which
their pious modefty would not permit them to behold.
Nor is it improbable, that, to prevent the like indecency,
they watched him during the remaining time of his fleep,
and might poffibly, upon his awaking, acquaint him with
what had happened : whereupon, perceiving how unwor-
thily his fon Ham had ferved him, f he curled his race in
the pei ion of Canaan his grandfon, and reflecting how re-
spectfully his other two ions had behaved, he rewarded
their pious care with each one a blefling, which, in procefs
of time, was fulfilled in their pofterity.
And Noah's This is all that the Scripture informs us of concerning
death. Noah, only we are given to underftand, that he lived
350 years after the deluge, in all 950 ; and if we will be-
lieve the tradition of the orientals, he was buried in Me-
fopotamia, where, not far from a monaftery, called Dair-
Abunah, i. e. the monaftery of our father, they lhew us,
in a cattle, a large fepulchre, which they fay belonged to
him : but as for the common opinion of his dividing the
world among his three fons before his death, giving to
Shem Alia, to Ham Africa, and to Japhet Europe, there is
f It is a tradition among the eaftcrn writers, that Noah,
having curfed Ham and Canaan, the effect of his curfe was, that
not only their pofterity were made fubjeet to their brethren, and
born, as we may fay, in (la very, but that likewile, all on a
fudden, the colour of their fkin became black : (for they main-
tain, that all the blacks defcended from Ham and Canaan) ; that
Noah, feeing fo furprifmg a change, was deeply affected with it,
and begged of God, that he would be pleafed to infpire Canaan's
waiters with a tender and cumpaffionate love for him ; and
that his prayer was heard. For notwithstanding we may flill
at this day obferve the effect of Noah's curfe in the fervitude
ef Ham's pofterity, yet we may remark likewife the effect of
his prayer, in that this fort of black flaves is fought for, and
made much of in moft places ; Cahuet's DlCsimtry on the "word
Mam.
no
Chap. 1. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 251
no manner of foundation for it, either in Scripture or A. M.
mdi«°a- . £t"cto.
The Objection. tVom Gen.
viii. 10. to
" T)UT how fhort foever this poft-diluvian part of the end of
" _D Noah's hiftory may be thought, it is long enough, ch
" we find, to contain many more abfurdities and mifrepre-
" fentations of things than can- ealily be digefted. It
" might be the opinion of the Heathen world, perhaps,
" that their gods were pleafed with the fmell of incenfe,
" and (as one (b) exprefTes it) would leave their ordinary
" diet of nectar and ambrofia, to fnuffup the fmoak and
" fat of facrilices ; yet furely it gives us too grofs and car-
" nal a notion of the great God of heaven and earth, that
" he lhould be ib far delighted with the fweet favour of
" any oblation, as to have his heart attendered, his re-
" lentings kindled, and himfclf drawn into a hafty refolu-
" tion never to deftroy the earth any more, when it is ap-
" parent, that iince that time he has brought upon it feve-
" ral inundations, and at the end is x'elblved to confume it
" with a general conflagration.
" The rainbow indeed may be accounted a very beauti-
" ful fight in the heavens ; but as it proceeds from a natu~
" ral caufe, (c) from the reflection and refraction of the
" rays of the fun from innumerable drops of rain in a
" cloud, it can be no proper token of a covenant com-
" menciag at that time. As there was a fun and clouds
" before the flood, the fame phsenomenon muft have fre-
" quently appeared, and confequently loft its validity ; nor
" can we fuppofe, that God flaould ever be fo unmindful
" of his covenant, as to ftand in need of lo flight, fo com-
" mon a remembrancer.
" The permiflion of animal food to Noah and his po-
" fterity may be thought perhaps a peculiar privilege ; but
" (d) when we read of the fame dominion over all crea-
** tures, and the fame diftinftion of clean and unclean
" beafts in the times before the flood that we find in
" the times of Noah, either we muft fuppofe the diftinc-
" tion to be frivolous, and the dominion given to man
" more extenfive, after he had finned, than it was before ;
" or we muft allow, that this is a privilege no more than
{b) Lucin. De Sacrif. vol. 1. p. 306. (c) Sauiin's Difler-
cation. (d) Heidegger's Hilt, patriar. cxer. 1 5.
" what
252 The Hiibry of the BIBLE, Book II.
what all antediluvians had ; and confequently, that it is
a mifreprefentation to call it a new grant.
" Man, in his ftate of innocence, and while the
image of God fhone radiantly about him, held all other
creatures under a voluntary fubjecYion : but the many-
fad accidents which we read of continually, are too fure
" a teitimony, that this part of the grant is in a manner
" quite withdrawn, and that the fear of us and the dread of
" us, is fo little imprened upon feveral kinds of beafts,
" that on fundry occafions they turn upon their mafters,
" and rebel.
" The Lord and Sovereign of the poft-diluvian world
" was the Patriarch Noah, who muft confequently be a
" man of buflnefs, as having the chief government of
" affairs devolved upon him ; and yet, after this period of
" time, we hear no manner of tidings of him, except
" it be in one fcurvy ftory of his planting a vineyard, get-
" tingfcandalouily drunk, and expofing himfelf to the fcorn
** and derifion of all about him. It is fomewhat ftrange,
" that in all the antediluvian ages, the ufe of the vine
" mould not be found out, or that Noah, who was now
" above 600 years old, lhould not be acquainted with its
" intoxicating quality ; but if he was not, the more he
** was to be pitied ; and Mofes (one would think) mould
" have imitated his two dutiful fons, and, in companion
" to his infirmity, caft the kind veil upon his nakednefs.
" But inftead of that, to reprefent this favourite of God,
" and grave fire of mankind, lying in his tent in the
•* fhameful manner that he does, and then, as foon as he
" awakes from his wine, to give him the fpirit of prophe-
" cy, and fet him a venting his curfes and his bleffmgs at
" random, looks as if he were acting the part of Ham,
" and expofing a weak wan's failings to the public. For,
** accoi'ding to this reprefentation, what other reafon can
" we aflign for the feveral notorious blunders that he makes;
" (e) for his mistaking the name of Canaan (who feems
" to be innocent in the whole affair) inftead of that of his
" guilty fon Ham, in the curfe ; for preferring his younger
*' fon Shem before the firft-born Japhet, in the blefling ;
" and for the many unaccountable reveries of enlarging
*' Japhet, making him dwell in the tents of Shem, and
c£ Ham to become the fervant of fervants ? What ac-
" count can we give for thefe extravagancies, I fay, but
(<?) Vid. Gen. a. 25. 26. 27.
* « that
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 253
**• that of fuppofing that the good old patriarch was not A. M.
" yet got out of his cups, and returned to his fenfes ?." AnJ'chrift
It is a fad perveriion of theufe of human underftanding, i347> 6r.
and no fmall token of a fecret inclination to infidelity, from en.
when men make the condefcenfions of Scripture an argu-X'"' z°- to
ment againft its divine authority ; and from the figures andch. 9.
allufions which it employs in accommodation to their capa- -— — v-.^
cities, draw conclusions unworthy of its facred penmen, AnfWered,
and unbecoming the nature of God. whyNoahi
In relation to facrifices, we find God declaring himfelffecrifice
very fully in thefe words : (/) Hear, 0 my people, and /swas acccpt-
willfpcak ; I myfelf will tejiify agaiv.jl thee, 0 lfracl, for Ie '
am Cod, even thy Cod. I will not reprove thee, hecanfe of
thy facrifices, or for thy burnt-offerings, becanfe they were
rot always before me. I will take no bullock out of thine
houfe, or he-goat out of thy folds ; ■ m*m*for thinkefi thou that
I will eat bulls flef j, or drink the blood of goats ? Offer unto
Cod thankfgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Mojl High,
and call upon me in the time of trouble, fo will I hear thee, and
thou fjalt praife me. So that it is not the oblation itfelf,
but the grateful fenfe and affections of the offerer, that arc
acceptable to God, and which, by an eafy metaphor, may
be faid to be as grateful to him (g) as perfumes or fWeet o-
dours are to us.
And indeed, if either the fenfe of gratitude or fear, if
either the apprehenfion of God's peculiar kindnefs, or of
his wrathful indignation againft fin, did ever produce a
ilncere homage, (/>) it mult have been \rpon this occafion
when the Patriarch called to remembrance the many vows
he had made to God in the bitternefs of his foul, -and in
the mid ft of his diftrefs; when coming out of the ark, he
had before his eyes the ruins of the old world, fo many
dreadful objects of the divine vengeance; and at the fame
time law himfelf fafe amicrft his little family, which mull
have all likewife pcrifhed, had they not been preferved by
a miraculous interpofition. And with fuch affections of
mind as this firene could not but excite, it would be injuri-
ous not to think that his prayers and oblations were anfwer-
ably fervent, and his joy tnd thankfgiving fuch as became
fo fignal a deliverance.
But it was not upon account of thefe only that his fer-
vice found fo favourable a reception. Sacrifices (/') (as wc
(hewed before) were of divine inltitution, and prefigurative
(/) Pfal. 1. -j. ire. (g) Patrick's Commentary, [h) Sai>
rin's Dilfenations. (/) Vid. p. i%5. ire.
Vol, I, 3 A of
Vlll. 2,0. tO
the end of
ch. 9.
Thai, the
covenant
hereupon
retrained
God nei-
ther froig
particular
inunda-
lions : '
254 The Hiflbry of the BIBLE, Book II,
A. M. of that great propitiation which God, in due time, would
At 'dfe'V exkfo^ m tue death of his fon. Whatever merit they have,
2347, &c. they derive from Chrift, (k) who gave himfelf for us, an of-
fromGen. fering, a:~,d djhcr'vfiee to God for a fwectfmelling favour. It
was in the fenie of this, therefore, that Noah approached
the altar which he had erected ; and while he was offering
his appointed facriikes, failed not to commemorate this
Lamb of God, which was fain from the foundation of the world,
and fo found his acceptance in the beloved ; for he is the
(/) angel which comes andfiands at the altar, having a gol-
den cenfer, and to whom is given much incenfe, that he may
offer it with the prayers of the fain$s, upon the golden altar,
which is If ere ihc throne.
We miftake the matter however very much, if we ima-
gine, that the merit of Noah's iacrifice (even when purified
with the blood of Chrift) was the procuring caufe of the
covenant here mentioned. The covenant was in the divine
counfel from everlafting, and God only here takes an oc-
cafion to acquaint Noah with it : but then we may obferve,
that he expreffes himfelf in fuch terms as lay no reftraint
upon him from fending a judgment of waters, or from
bringing a general conflagration upon the world at the laft
day. He binds himfelf only never to [mite any more every
living thing in the manner he had done, i. e. with an uni-
verlal deluge ; but if any nation deferves fuch a punifh-
ment, and the fituation of their country well admits of it,
he may, if he pleafes, without breach of this covenant,
bring a local inundation upon them ; though it muft be ac-
knowledged, that whenever we find him threatening any
people with his (m) fore judgments, he never makes men-
tion of this.
It was a general tradition among the Heathens, that the
world was to undergo a double deuruction, one by water,
and the other by fire. The deftruction by fire St Peter
has given us a very lively defcription of. («) The heavens
and the earth, which arc new, fays he, are kept inflore,
referved unto fire, again/l the day of judgment ; for then
JbaU the leavens pafs away with a great noife, and the
cuts melt with fervent heat, and the earth alfo, and
the works that ore therein, fleall he burnt up. But all thig
is no infraction upon the covenant made with Noah, which
relates to the judgment of a flood : And though this ca-
taftrophe will certainly be more terrible than the other, yet
nqr the ge-
neral con-
flagration.
(k) Erh. v. 2.
(/>) 2 Pet. iii. 7=
(/) Revel, viii. 3. («*) Vid. Ezck. siv. 2io
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 255
k has this great difference in it, (0) that it is not fent as a A- M.
curfe, but as a bleffing upon the earth : not as a means toAnSt7'cHi"f.
deface and deftroy, but to renew and refine it; and there-1347) &r.
fore the fame Apoftle adds, (p) Nevertheless fie, accor-*'™™ Gen-
ding to his promife, look for new heavens and a new earth*?1' "^ u>
wherein dwelleth right eoufnefs. ch. 9.
Thus the covenant of God ftandeth fure : but then, in w- -v— -J
relation to the fign or facrament of it, whether it was pre-'1!1^ thc
vious or fubfequent to the deluge, this has been a matter ^"^^of
much debated among the learned. It cannot be denied in- the cove-
deed, but that * this curious mixture of light and ihade,nant> dici
yr mt. not exift
dncernibic, r .
before the
flood.
(0) Heidegger's Hift. pairiar. vol. f . exer. 19. (/>) 2 Fet. iii. 1 5.
* The learned Heidegger has given us an account of the nature
and colours of the rainbow^ and by what different caufes they are
produced, in words fo very expreJfive, that I chtife to give them
in the original, rather than run the hazard of injuring their em-
phafis by a bad translation. " EfRcit iridem potiilinium fol, feu
" radius folaris in vaporem receptus, inque eo refractus, propter
u diverfa receptacula ; untim rarius, aera ; alteram deufius, va-
** porem ; qui et folarem recipit radium, et in oculum rerleelit -
u ita ut in iride fit partim afatxao-'f, five radii luvimoji, in pro-
*' fnriditate vaporis, rcfraclioj partini hw^xAt, feu radii ejus
H. ad oculum rcfleftio, qute non poifunt fociari nifi in nube rori-
M da, et in pluvias jam refolvenda. ; quippe in tantum rara, ut
u earn aliquantum radius folaris penctrct, et in tantum etiam
** denfa, et ubi radius idc pallidum infinuarit, eundem reper-
" cutiat. Circularis et arcuata eft ejnsfigura, ob figuram folis ip-
" fuis; quia femper iris apparet ex adverfo folis, rcpercums ejus
u radiis ab oppolita nubc. Colores iridis, ex varia lucis et tim-
" brarum mixtura, funt tres potiffimum ; 0«viW, puniceus er
u rubicundus ; xpio-ivoi, porraceus, five viridis, et u^pyo?, c<?~
" ruletts. Cum enim folares radii primum fubeunt nubem,
" quia minus tranfitur opaci, color eft rubicundtis, fen puniceus :
" ubi paulo magis penetrant, impeditur aliquantum coloris ar-
" dor, atque fie fit viridis 5 at in profiuidnin vaporis admhTus,
" ufque ad infiinanl arcus *curvaturam, ob opacitatem remitt'C
" color, eftque crsruleus;" Exercit. 19. This defcription i~.
pretty lively, and gives us fume idea of this ftrange phenomenon
and yet we muft own, that the nature cl" refraction, on which the
colours of the rainbow do depend, is one of the abftrufeft things
that we meet with in the philofophy of nature. Our renowned
Boyle, who wrote a treatife on the fubject oi. colours, after a lor.;-,
and indefatigable fearch into their natures and properties, v
not able fo much as to fatisfy himfclf what light is, or (if it be a
UoJy) wiiat kind of corpufeks, forfrze . 1 -I : . it co . ... oi.
* A 2 ••
256 The Hiffory of the BIBLE, Book IL
A. m. difcernible in the rainbow, arifes naturally from the fuper-
iesr. fa-, ficies of thofe parts which conftitute a cloud, "when the
Am. Outf, rays Q£ ^g fnU} £rom the a(iverfc part 0f the hemifphere,
from 'Gen! ! are darted upon it; and for this reaibn, {a) whenever there
viii. 20. to is the like difpofition of the fun to the cloud, it may be i-
the end of rnagined that the fame phenomenon may be feen, and con-
sequently, at certain times, has been feen, not from the de-
luge only, but from the firft foundation of the world,
(r) But as this opinion has nothing in Scripture to enforce
it, fo there are no grounds in nature to give it any fanction,
unlefs we will affert this manifeft untruth, That every
diipofition of the air, and every denfity of a cloud, is fitly
qualified to produce a rainbow.
This meteor (as the Scripture informs us) * was ap-
pointed
or how ihefe infenfible corpufcles could be fo differently, and yet
withal fo regularly, refracted : and he freely acknowledges, that
however fome colours might be plaulibly enough explained in the
general, from experiments he had made, yet whenfoever he would
defcend to ihe minute and accurate explication of particulars, he
found himfelf very fenfible of the great obfeurity of things. Dr
Halley, the great ornament of his profeffion, makes the fame ac-
knowledgment; and after having, from the given proportion of
refraction, accounted both for the colours and diameter of the
rainbow, with its fevcral appearances, he could hence difcern (as
he tells us) farther difficulties lying before him : particularly,
from whence arofe the refrachve force of fluids ? which is a pro-
blem of no fmall moment, and yet defervedly to be placed among
the myfteries of nature, nondum fenjibus, aut rat'tociniis noftru
cbjccfa : and the noble Theorift of light himfelf, after his many
furprifing difcoveries, built even upon vulgar experiments, found
it too hard for him to refolve himfelf in fome particulars about it ;
and not with Handing all his prodigious fkill in mathematics, and
his dextrous management of the moft obvious experiments, he con-
cludes it at lad to be a work too arduous for human underitanding,
absolutely to determine what light is, after what manner refracted,
and by what modes and'aetions it produccth in our minds thephan-
t'aftes of colours J RibliotH. Biblica, vol. 2. occaf. annot. 2. in
the appijidix.
(q) I id. Brown's Pfeudodoxia epidemica. (r) Dr Jackfon
upon the Creed', 1. 1. c. 16.
* That this rainbow was thought to be of fomewhat more than
mere .natural extractions the p .ylical mythology of the ancient
Heathens feems to left';;"}', and it is not improbable, that from
the tenor of God's covenant here made with Noah, which
aright be cdmimmicatcd to them fijr tradition; I.'omer, the great
lather
Chap. I. from .the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 257
pointed by God to be a witnefs of his covenant with the A- M.
new world, and a meffenger to fecure mankind from ^"AnV'cinii.
ftruction by deluges ; fo that had it appeared before the,347) &c.
flood, the fight of it afterwards would have been but a from Gen.
poor comfort to Noah and his pofterity, whofe fear of an^"c'"e* ^ T
inundation was too violent, ever to be taken away by ach 9.
common and ordinary iign.
For fuppofe that God Almighty had hid to Noah, (s)
" I make a promife to you, and to all living creatures,
" that the world fhall never be deftroyed by water again ;
" and for confirmation of this, behold, I fet the fun in
" the firmament : " would this have been any ftrengthening
of Noah's faith, or any fatisfacf ion to his mind ? " Why,
" (fays Noah) the fun was in the firmament when the
" deluge came, and was a fpeclator of that fad tragedy ;
" and as it may be fo again, f what fign or affurar.a.
" in
father of Ethnick poetry, docs, by an cafy and lively fiction, bring
in Jupiter, the king of heaven, fending Iris, his ineifenger, with
a peremptory command to Neptune, the prince of waters, io de-
lift from any farther affifting the Grecians, and annoying the
Trojans ; and at the fame time that Iris is fent with this meflagc
to the watery deity, the poet has fo contrived the matter, that A-
pol!o, or the fun, which is the parent and efficient caufe of the
rainbow, is feat with another meffage to Hector, and the Tro-
jans, in order to encourage them to take the field again, and re-
new their attack. The meaning of all which fine machinery is
no more than this, That after a great deal of rain, which had
caufed an inundation, and thereby made the Trojan boric ufclefs,
the fun began to appear again, and the rainbow in a cloud oppo-
site to the fun, which was a fure prognofticof fair weather ; Hi-
k'iotheca Biblica, vol. i. occaf. anmt. 2. in the efypeudix,
(j) Burnet's Theory.
\ When God gives a Qgn in the lieavens, or on the eardi,
of any prophecy or promile to be fulfilled, it muft be fomething
new, or by fome change wrought in nature, whereby he teflifies
to us, that he is able and willing to ftand to his. promife. Titus
God puts the matter to Aha/., flfk a fign of the Lead, ajh it either
in the depth, or in the height above : and when AhajZ would
alk no fign, God gives him one unalki'd : Behold a virgin jh all
conceive, and bear a fan. Thus when Abraham alked a Iign, whci c ■
by he might be atfured of God's promife, that lus {c^\ fliould in-
herit the land of Canaan, it is laid, that when the fan went dowrjt
and it was dark, behold a Jinoaking furnace, and a burkinp lamp
faffed between the feces of the beads which he had cut ullndcr,
Gcu.
258 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A.M. " in this, againft a fecond deluge?" But now if we fup-
s5j7, &c. pofe, on the other hand, that the rainbow firft appeared to'
a?47 '&c tne inhabitants of the earth after the deluge, nothing could
fromGen. be a more proper and appofite fign for providence to pitch
viii. jo. to upon, in order to confirm the promife made to Noah and
his pofterity, .that the world fhould no more be deftroyed
jby water. The rainbow had a fecret connection with the
effect itfelf, and fo far was * a natural fign ; and as it ap-
peared firft after the deluge, and was formed in a thin,
watry cloud, there is, methinks, a great eafinefs and pro-
priety of its application for fuch a purpofe. For if we.
iuppofe, that while God almighty was declaring his
promife to Noah, and what he intended for the fign
of it, there appeared, at the fame time, in the clouds, *
Gen. xv. T 7. And in like manner, in the fign given to Heze-
3tiah for his recovery, and to Gideon for his victory ; in the for-
mer cafe, the Jhadow went back ten degrees in Ahaz's dial, Ifa.
xxxviii. 8. ; and in the latter, the fieece was wet, and all the
ground about it dry ; and then (to change the trial) // was dry,
*nd all the ground about it wet, Judg. vi. 38. 39. Thefe were
all figns, proper, fignificant, and fatisfactory, having fomething
new, furpriling, and extraordinary in them, denoting the hand
and interpofition of God : but where every thing continues to
be as it was before, and the face of nature, in all its parts, the
very fame, it cannot iignify any thing new, nor any new inten-
tion of the author of nature ; and, confequently, cannot be a
fign or pledge, a token or affurance of the accomplilhment of
any new covenant or promife made by him ; Burnet s Theory,
1. 2. c. 5.
* Common philofophy teaches us, that die rainbow is a natu-
ral fign that there will not be much rain after it appears, but
that the clouds be<;in to difperfe. For as it never appears in a
thick cloud, but only in a thin, whenever it appears afrer mow-
ers which tome from thick clouds, it is a token that they now
grow thin ; and therefore the God of nature made choice of this
fign, rather than any other, to fatisfy us, that he would never
furfer die clouds to thicken again to fuch a degree, ns to bring an-
other delude upon the earth ; Patrick's Commentary. " Fit
" iris ab adverfo fole, mittente radios in nubcm non denfum ;
" fignificat ergo naturaliter, quod et jufTu Dei, imbiem nunquam
'< obruturam mundum : qui enim poflit, cum neque ccelum to-
*' turn obduclnm nubibus fit, neque, qus adfunr, funt valde den-
« fac?" Valefius, Ds S. Thief, c, 9.
* "the ingenious Marcus Marci is of opinion, that the rain-
bow, which firft appeared to Noah after the flood, and was fo
particularly dignified by God, as to be fcoufecrated for a divine
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 259
a fair rainbow, that marvellous and beautiful meteor, which A, M.
Noah had never feen before, it could not but make a molt j^Vfcrfr
lively impreflion upon him, quickening his faith, and giving i347> ^c'
him comfort and aiTurance, that God would be itedfaft tofl'°m Gen.
his purpofe. ™' 2°; tof
I" or God did not Jet this bow in the clouds for bis ownc^9.
fake, to engage his attention, and revive his memory, when- 1— ~y— -J
ever he looked on it, (though that be the expreflion which An<l for
the Holy Spirit, fpeaking after the manner of men, has^^Jj * *
thought fit to make ufe of), but for our lakes was it placed pointed,
there, as an illuftrious fymbol of the divine mercy and
goodnefs, and to confirm our belief and confidence in
God : and therefore, whenever (/) we look upon the rain-
fcyiit, we fhould do well to praife him who made it ; for ve-
ry beautiful is it in the bright nefs thereof. It connpaffcth the
heaven with a glorious circle, and the hands of the moji
high have bended it.
And as the goodnefs of God was very confpicuous toT,iat fleflt
Noah and his pofterry, in giving them a new fign for the before the %
confirmation of his promifes; fo it was no lefs remarkable flood,
in the new charter which he granted them, for the en-
largement of their diet. That our firft parents *, in their
fcatc
fign, was not the common one, but a great and nniverfal iris,
inimitable by art, which he lias defined by a fegment of a circle,
dhlected into feveral gyrations (or rounds) by the diverficy of the
colours, differing from one another, begotten by the fun-beams re-
fracted in the atmofpherc, and terminated with an opaque fuperii-
cics. But whether this ferves to explain the matter any better.
or whether the common rainbow be not an appearance illuftri-
ous enough to anfwer the purpofes for which it was intended,
we leave the curious to inquire; and fhail only obferve farther,
that whether it was an ordinary or extraordinary bow which.
appeared to Noah, it is the opinion of fome, that the time of
its rirft appearing was not immediately after he had facrifked, (as
is generally, fuppofed), baton the 150th day of the flood, w|ien
God remembered Noah, upon which \cvy day of the year they
lihcwife calculate the birth of Chrift (as pretypified thereby) to
jia"e exactly fallen out ; and that even the glury of the Lord,
which (hone round about the fliepherds, was a gracious pheno-
menon, correfpunding with this fign of the covenant j Biblio-
theca Biblica, ibid.
(l) Eccleiialticus, xliii. II. 12.
* This notion the Pagan poers and philofophers had received :
(or Ovidj in his dcicription of ihefe limes, gives us to udder-
160 The Hiitory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. ftatc 0f integrity, had not the liberty of eating flefh, is
'\iit.7'chriT.veiT ev^ent» becaufe they were limited by that injunction
»347, ire. which appoints herbs and fruits for their food : (u) Behold
from Gen. / have given you every herb bearing feed which is upon
"' end ct''3C face °f ^ie eartk, and every tree in the which is the
fruit of the tree yielding (ie'ecl i to you it fljall be for
hneat. Nay, fo far was mankind from being indulged the
liberty of eating flefh at that time, that we find the hearts
of the field, creatures that in their nature are vora-
cious, and the fowl of the air, and every thing that creep-
ed upon the earth, tinder the fame reftraint, as having no-
thing allowed them for their food but the herbage of the
ground ; becaufe it was the Almighty's will, that in the
ftate of innocence no violence Ihould be committed, nor
any life maintained at the lofs and forfeiture of ano-
ther's.
This was the original order and appointment, and fo
it continued after the fall ; for we can hardly fuppofe, that
God would allow a greater privilege to man after his
tranfgreflion than he did before. On the contrary, we
find him (x) curfing the ground for man's fake, and telling
him exprefsly, that in for row he fioirfd eat of it all the days
ef his life ; and though it mould bring forth thorns and
thiftles to him, yet here the reftrhffion is ft ill continued, Of
the herbs of the field thou Jhalt eat, which is far from im-
fland, that they fed on no flefh, but lived altogether on herbs and
fruits, when he introduces Pythagoras, a great inquirer into the-
ancient and primitive practices of the world, expreffing himfelf
in this manner :
At vetus ilia setas, cni fecimus aurea nomen,
Fcetibus arboreis, et quas humus educit, herbis
Fortunata fuit ; nee polluit ora crnore.
Tunc et aves tuta; movere per aera pennas,
Et lepus impavidus mediis erravit in arvis ;
Nee fua cred&Iltas pifcem fufpenderat hamo.
Cuncla fine infidiis, nullamque -uraemia fraudem,
Pienaqne pacis erant. Met. /. 1 5.
Porphyry, in his book Be ahfiwentia, a/JTerts the fame thing,
biz. That in the golden age no iieih of beafts was eaten, and he
is to be pardoned in what he adds afterwards, viz. That war and
famine introduced this practice. He was not acquainted with Ge-
nelis ; he ]<new not that God's order to Noah after the flood was,
that every living creature Jbottld he vie at for him ; Edwards's
Survey of religion, vol. 1. p. 11 7.
(.v) Gcn.i. 20. 30. (v) Ch, hi, 17. 18.
plying
Chap.I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 261
plying a permiilion to make ufe of living creatures for that A. M.
pur pole. \!7'ctr
Nay, farther, we may obferve, that fuch a permiffion hadz ' ^" .
been inconiiitent with God's intention of punifhing him byfrom'Gen.
impoverilhing the earth ; lince, had God indulged him the v'1'1'1- xo- io_
liberty of making life of what creatures he pleafed for his r
food, he might ealily have made himfelf an amends for the
nnfruitfialnels of the e irth, by the many good things which
nature had provided xov him. The dominion therefore
which God at firft gave m mkind over brute-animals, could
not extend to their flaying them for food, fince another
kind of diet was enjoined them; nor could the dhiinc-
tion of clean and unclean refpect them as things to be eaten,
but as things to be lacririced. The firft permiffion to eat
them was given to Noah and his fons, and is plainly a dif-
tinct branch of power, from what God grants, when he
tells them, (y) The fear of you, and the dread of you Jba/l
be upon every beaft of the earth, &c.
If it be aiked, tor what real'on God fhould indulge Noah Why it was
and his poiterity in the eating of fleih after the flood, which 8Tantcd {"
he had never permitted before it ? the moft probable an--^;s DOftcri-
fwer is, — — That he therefore did it becaufe the earth wasty.
corrupted by the deluge, and the virtue of its herbs, and
planes, and other vegetables, fadly impaired by the laitaefs,
and long continuance of the waters, fo that they could
not yield that wholelbme and folid nutriment which they
did before : though others rather think, that God indulged
them in this, (z) becaufe of the hardnefs of their hearts ;
and that, perceiving the eagernefs of their appetites towards
carnal food, and deiigning withal to abbreviate the term
of human life, he gave them a free licence to eat it ; but
knowing, at the fame time, that it was lefs falutary than
the natural products of the earth, he thence took occalion
to accomplifh his will and determination, of having the
period of human life made much ihorter. Nor is the rea-
fon, which (a) Thcodoret afligns, for God's changing the
diet of men from the fruits of the earth, to the tleih of
animals, much amifs, viz.*" That, foreknowing, in future
" ages, they would idolize his creatures, he might aggra-
" vate the abfurdity, and make it more ridiculous fo to do,
" by their confuming at their tables what they facrificed at
" their altars ; fince nothing is more abfurd, than 10 wor-
" fhip what we eat."
{/)Gen.ix.2. (z) Mstth.xix.8. (<?) In Gen. quaft. 55. p. 44.
Vol. I. 3 B It
26z The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. It cannot be denied indeed, but that the grant of domi-
*657> ^f- nion which God gave Adam, in his ftate of innocence, is
2347 &c. now mucn impaired ; and that the creatures, which to him
from Gen. were fubmiffive through love, by us mull be ufed with fe-
viii. jo. to verity,- and fubjecled by fear : but ftill it is no fmall hap-
ch.
( pineis to us, that we know how to fubdue them ; that the
That maa'« hrirfe and the ox patiently fubmit to the bridle and the yoke;
dominion and fuch creatures as are immorigerous, we h.*ve found
over brute- OU'C expedients to reclaim. For though man's ftrength be
ftill com'- comPara,:5vely fmall, yet there is no creature in the earth,
nues. fea, or air, but what *, by fome ftratagem or other, he
can put in fubjeclion under him.
But (b) canji thou dravo out Leviathan with an hook ?
er his tongue with a cord, which thou letteft down ? CanJl
thou put an hook into his no/e ? or bore his jaw through with
a/pear ? Will he make many /applications unto thee ? Will
he /peak /o/t words unto thee ? Wilt thou take him /or a
/ervant /or ever ? All thefe queftions, how expreffive foe-
ver of the feveral qualities of this portentous creature, may,
neverthelefs, be anfwered in the affirmative, viz. That how
large foever in bulk, and how tremendous foever in ftrength
this animal may be, yet the Greenland fifhermen, who
every year return with its fpoils, do literally perform what
our- author feems to account impoffible ; they {c]fill his
Jkin with barbed irons, and his head with ji/l>/pears ;
and fo they play with him, as with a bird; they bind him
/or their maidens, and part him among their merchants.
* This fuperiority of man over all other creatures, his hold-
ing them in fubjection, and making them fubfervient to his ufes,
we find elegantly defcribed by Oppianns, in the following verfes.
v yap T( TTiXn Ka&vripTtpov uvipuv,
Noo-pi Q10V fJivvoicri J wrruto fj.it aBavaToiotv.
"Oc-crv; fj.it v.ar opiatpi film arptTot i%ovTas
©» ac wmptnahus /Sporoc fO"Ciu£v; gc<tu £1 pvh*
Oiatuv ■/apiKncri 5 rapt JivEuovra
ETxt, xa.fj.all*)\ov Trip iXav <^7-"*C '< ^s teovrx
Pva-al ccymoptn S/j.nBn/j.ivai' i£' itraaaiv
'Alslav iwi/xcus VTlpvyov poScc d\\u i, 'lv<fo»
&ripa y-tkatvof-ptvov v7Tip£tov a^tiof avxyy.n
Kx7vav nriQpicravTi^. vrb {ivy Krurt S' I6r,y.a>
Ovptiuv TCcKaipyov J^eiv ttow* EAxurrpa*
Lib 5. Halieutic»n. ver. 10. ire*
(/>) Job. xli. i. ire. (c) ver. j. &c.
la
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 263
In fhort, God has implanted in all creatures, a fear and A. M.
dread of man. (d) This is the thing which keeps wolves ' 6i ?> &e.
out of our towns, and lions out of our ftreets ; and tho'x ' ^" '
the fharpnefs of hunger, or violence of rage, may at cer- from Gen.
tain times make them forget their natural inftincl, (as the Vlli- z0- t0
like caufes have fome times diverted man of his i-eaibn), yet, '^ cn °
no fooner are thefe caufes removed, but they return to _ — -,_f
their ordinary temper again, without purfuing their ad-
vantage, or combining with their fellow-brutes to rife up
in rebellion againft man, their lord and mailer.
(e) Some modern writers of no fmall note are clearly Why Mofes
of opinion, that the Ararat where the ark refted, wasma)ies fo
mount Caucafus, not far from China, where Noah andt;onoi:-
fome part of his family fettled, without travelling to Shi- Noah after
nar, or having any hand in the building of Babel ; and thethe &ooA-
arguments they alledge for the fupport of this opinion, are
fuch as thefe,- ■—That the JMofaic hiftory is altogether fi-
lent, as to the peopling of China at the difperlion, and
wholly confines itfelf within the bounds of the then known
world ; that the Chinefe language and writing are fo en-
tirely different from thofe among us, (introduced by the
confufion at Babel), that it cannot well be fuppofed they were
ever derived from them ; and that (taking their firit king
Fohi and Noah to be the fame perfon) there are feveral
(/) traditions relating to them, wherein they feem to a-
gree, that the reign of Fohi coincides with the times of
Noah, and the lives of his fucceflbrs correfpond with the
men of the fame ages recorded in Scripture ; and from
hence they infer, that the true reafon why Mofes makes fo
little mention of Noah, in the times iubiequent to the
(d) Miller's Hiftory of the church, 1. r. c. 1. (<?) Dr Alix,
in his Reflections on the books of the Holy Scriptures ; Mr
Whifton in his Chronology of the Old Tcftament; Shuckford,
in his Connection ; and Bedford, in his Scripture chronology.
(/) Thus, in the Chinefe hiftory, Fohi is faid to have had no
father, which agrees well enough with Noah, becaufe the memo-
ry ef his father might be loft in the deluge; that Fohi's mother
conceived him, as (he was encompalTed with a rainbow; which
ieems to allude to the rainbow's firft appearing to Noah after
the flood ; and that Fohi carefully bred up feven fort of crea-
tures, which he ufed to facrihee to the fupreme Spirit of hea-
ven and earth, which is an imperfect tradition of Noah's ta-
king into the ark, of every clean beaft by fetiens, ;md of his
making ulc of none but tliefe in all his burnt-offerings ; Shuck-
fcrd'sCcmitflioti, lib. 2.
3 B ?, flood*
264 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. flood, is this, That he lived at too great a diftance, and
s<5$7, ire. haj no ftiare in the tranfactions of the nations round about
'" ^ 'Shinar, to whom alone, after the difperfion of mankind,
from Gen. he is known to confine hiftory. This indeed is folving the
viii. jo. tcdifiiculty at once : but then, as this opinion is only con-
£jC jec"tural, the hiftories and records of China are of a very
L_J— _ __j uncertain and precarious authority, and fuch as are reputed
genuine, of no older date than fome few centuries before
the birth of Chrift, the major part of the learned world has
fuppofed, either that Noah, fettling in the country of Ar-
menia, did not remove from thence, nor had any concern
in the work of Babel, and fo fails not urraer'rne hiftorian's
consideration ; or that, if he did remove with the reft into
the plains of Shinar, being now fuperannuated, and unfit
for action, the adminiftration of things was committed to
other hands, which made his name and authority the lefs
taken notice of.
Why he re- jt mufj- be acknowledged, however, that the defign of
cords the , ,, , . Y r • n • t • r
account of tne *acred penman is, to be very luccinct m his account or
his drunk- the affairs of this period, becaufe he is haftening to the
cnneis. hiftory of Abraham, the great founder of the Jewifh na-
tion, and whofe life and adventures he thinks himlelf con-
cerned, upon that account, to relate more at large. How-
ever this be, it is certain, from the tenor of his writing,
that he is far from leading us into any fufpicion of his ha-
ving a private malignity to Noah's character. He informs
us, that, amidft the corruption of the antediluvian world,
he preferved hiiuielf immaculate, and did therefore find
favour in the fight of God, and was admitted to the honour
of his .immediate cenverfe : that, to prekrve him from the
general defer uction, God inftructed him how to build a
vdfie} of itcurity, undertook the care and conduct of it him-
felf, and, amidft the ruins of a finking world, landed it fafe
on one of the mountains of Armenia ; that, as fcon as the
deluge was over, God accepted of his homage and facrifice,
and not only renewed to him the fame charter which he
hi -A originally granted to our firft progenitor, but over and
above that, gave him an enlargement of his diet which he
had not granted to any before ; and with him made an ever-
Jaicing covenant, never to deftroy the world by water any
more, whereof he conftituted his bow in the clouds to be a
glorious fymbol. In this point of light it is that Mofes has,
ail along, placed the patriarch's character ; and thereiore,
jf, in the conclufion of it, he was forced to fhade it with
w^e act of intemperance, this, we may realonably con-
clude,
Chap I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 265
elude, proceeded from no other paffion but his love of A- M-
truth; and to eveiy impartial reader muft be * a ftrong Ant^'chrih
argument of his veracity, in that he has interfperfed thel347) &-c.
faults with the commendations of his worthies, and, fr.°ra Gen.
through his whole hiftory, drawn no one character fo very^"' 2 °: l°
fair, as not to leave fome blemifhes, fome inffcances of hu- ch. 9.
man frailty ftill abiding on it. And indeed, if we confider ♦— -v— ■ *J
the thing rightly, we ihall find it an act of lingular kind-
nefs and benefit to us, that God ■ has ordered the faults
and mifcarriages of his faints fo conftantly to be recorded
in Scripture ; fince they are written for our inftruction, to
remind us of our frailty, and to alarm our caution and
fear.
Noah, we read, had efcaped the pollutions of the old
world, and approved his fidelity to God in every trying
.juncture ; and yet we fee him here falling of his own ac-
cord, and lhamefully overcome in a time of fecurity and
peace ; when he had no temptations to befet him, nor any
boon companions to allure him to excefs : and therefore
his example calls perpetually upon (g) him that thinketh he
Jlandeth, to take heed left he fall. More efpecially, it informs
us, that (h) wine is a mocker, ftrong drink is raging,
and whofoever is deceived thereby, is not wife ; and there-
fore it exhorts, in the words of the wife man, (i) Look
not thou upon wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour
in the cup, when it moveth itfelf aright. At the laft it will
bite like a fcrpent, and fling like an adder. Thine eyes
Jhall behold ftrange women, and thine heart JJjall utter per*
* To confirm, in fome meafure, the truth of this account of
Mofes, we have an Heathen ftory, which feems to have fprung
from fome tradition concerning it ; for it tells us, that, on a
certain day, Myrrha, wife, or (as others fay) nurfe to Hammon,
and mother of Adonis, having her fon in her company, found
Cyniftas fleeping in his tent, all uncovered, and in an indecent
poflure. She ran immediately, and informed Hammon of it ; he
gave notice of it to his brothers, who, to prevent the con-
iiilion which Cyniftas might be in to find himfclf naked, co-
vered him with fomething. Cyniftas, underftanding what had
palled, curfed Adonis, and purfued Myrrha into Arabia ; where,
after having wandered nine months, (he was changed into a
tree which bears myrrh. Hammon and Ham are the fame
per fon, and fo are Adonis and Canaan ; Cahnefs Ditlionary on
the word Ham.
(g) 1 Cor. x. 12. (h) Prov. xx. 1. (i) Ch. xxiii.
31- frft
verfe
266 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. verfe things ; yea, thou Jhalt be as he that lieth down in
AnV'ctrif ^ m^, °f ^e fea> an^ as ^e ^at ^et^ uPon t^)e toP °f *
from Gen. There is not however all the reafon that is imagined, to
vin. ao. to fuppofe that Noah was drunk to any fuch exceffive degree,
ch. p. The fame word which is here ufed occurs (k) in another
c— -v-^place in this book of Geneiis, where we read, that Jofeph's
A-ndmwha.tbrethreii drank, and were merry with him; and yet the cir-
emeumaycumfl-ance3 0f tiie entertainment will not fuffer us to think,
flood. " fhat they indulged themfelves in any excefs, in the prefence
of him whom as yet they knew to be no other than the
governor of Egypt. And in like manner, if we may be
allowed to take the word here in an innocent fenfe, its im-
port will only be, that Noah drank of the wine plentifully,
perhaps, but not to a debauch, and fo fell afleep. For we
muft obferve, that Mofes's delign is, not to accufe Noah
of intemperance, but only to mew upon what occafion it
was the Canaanites, whom the people under his command
were now going to engage, were accurfed, and reprobated
by God, even from the days of Noah ; and confequently,
in more likelihood to fall into their hands.
Without perplexing ourfelves therefore to find out
fuch excufes as feveral interpreters have devifed, as that
Noah was unacquainted with the nature of the vine in ge-
neral, * or with the effects of this in particular, or that
the age and infirmity of his body, or the deep concern
and melancholy of his mind, made him liable to be over-
come with a very little ; we may adventure to fay, that he
drank plentifully, Avithout impeaching his fobriety ; and
that while he was aileep, he chanced to be uncovered,
without any ftain upon his modefty. There is a great deal
of difference between fatiety and intemperance, between
refrefhing nature, and debauching it ; and confidering
withal, that the fafhion of mens habits was at that time
(k) Ch. xliii. 34.
* It is a Jewiih tradition or allegory, that the vine which Noah
planted was not of ordinary terrefh ial growth, but was carried
down the river out of paradife, or at lead out of Eden, and found
by him : and as fome have imagined that the tree of knowledge of
good and evil was a vine, fo, by the defcription given thereofj
and the fatal confequences attending it, there feems to be a plain
allufion to it, and fome reafon to believe that it was one and the
fune tree by which the nakednefs both of Adam and Noah was
cxpofed to dcrifion ; Targ. Jonath-.
look,
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 267
loofe, (as they were likewife in fubfequent ages before the A. M.
ufe of breeches was found out), fuch an accident might J^'qJ^
have eaiily happened, without the imputation of any134^ &c '
harm. fr?.m Gcn-
(/) The Jewifh doftors are generally of opinion, tJiat^cJJ*0J'
Canaan, * having firft difcovered his grandfather's naked- che g
nefs, made himfelf merry therewith, and afterwards expofed u— v-— 1
it to the fcorn of his father. Whoever the pcrfon was, Why Noah
it is certain that he is called (m) the younger, or little fori °fc™^d ^
Noah, which cannot well agree with Ham, becaufe henot 'mm,
was neither little, nor his younger fon, but the fecond, ov
middlemoft, as he is always placed ; (/;) nor does it feem lb
pertinent to the matter in hand, to mention the order of
his birth, but very fit (if he ipeaks of his grandfon) to dii-
tinguifh him from the reft. So that if it was Canaan who
treated his grandfire in this unworthy manner, the appli-
cation of the curfe to him, who was firft in the offence,
(/) Calmet's Dictionary on the word Canaan.
* Interpreters have invented feveral other reafons, why the
curfe which properly belonged to Ham was inflicted on his fon
Canaan; as ift, When Canaan is mentioned, Ham is not exempt-
ed from the malediction, but rather more deeply plunged into it,
becaufe parents are apt to be more affected with their childrens
misfortunes than their own ; cfpecially, if themfelves brought the
evil upon them by their own fault or folly. 2dly, God having
bleffed the three fons of Noah at their going out of the ark, it was
not proper that Noah's curfe mould interfere with the divine
blefling, but very proper that it (hould be transferred to Canaan,
in regard to the future extirpation of the people which were to
defcend from him. Bur, gdly, Some imagine that there is here
an ellipfis, or defect of the word father, fmce fuch relative
words are frequently omitted, or undcrftood in Scripture. Thus,
Mat. iv. 21. James of Zebedee for the fon of Zebedee', John xix.
25. Mary of Cleopas for the wife of Cleopas ; and A els vii. 16.
Emmor of Sychem for the father of Sychem, which our tranfia-
tion rightly fupplies ; and in like manner, Canaan may be put for
the father of Canaan, as the Arabic tranflation has it, i. c.
Ham, as the Septuagint here render it. And though Ham had
more fons, yet he may here be defcribed by his relation to Ca-
naan, becaufe in him the curfe was more fixed and dreadful,
reaching to his utter extirpation, whilft the reft of Ham's pofterity
in after ages were blefTed with the faving knowledge of the go-
fpel ; Pool's Annotations.
(m) Gen. ix. 24. («) Patrick's Commentary.
268 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. is far from being a miftake in Noah. It is no random ana-
*fS7'j£c' fthema which he let fly at all adventures, but a cool, delibe-
1347 <trc. rate denunciation, which proceeded not from a Spirit of in-
from Gen. dignation, but of prophecy. The hiftory indeed takes no-
Vh" a°- ^tice of this malediction immediately upon Noah's awaking
cll out of his fleep, and being informed of what had happen-
i ed ; but this is occasioned by its known brevity, which (as
we have often remarked) relates things as inftantly fuccef-
five, when a confiderable fpace of time ought to interfere.
In all probability, thefe predictions of Noah, which point
out the different fates of his posterity, were fuch as (o) we
find f Jacob pronouncing over his fons a little before his
death ; and it is not unlikely, that the common opinion of
Noah's dividing the earth among ids, might take its origi-
nal from thefe lafc words that we read of him, which were
certainly accomplifhed in their event.
The curfe The curfe upon Canaan is, that he fhould be a fervant
Ven e * to Shem : and (/>) about 800 years after this, did not the
Israelites, defcendents of Shem, take pofleilion of the land
of Canaan, Subdue thirty of its kings, deftroy moft of its
inhabitants, lay heavy tributes upon the remainder, and, by
oppreffions of one kind or other, oblige fome to fly into
Egypt, * others into Africa, and others into Greece ? He
(0) Gen. xlix.
•f That which may confirm us in this opinion, is, That Ja-
cob, when he calleth his children together, acquaints them, that
his purpofe is to tell them thai which /hall befal them in the lafl
days ; and that he does not always prefage bleflings, but fome-
times ili-luck to their pofterity, and (in the fame manner that
Noah does) now and then drops a note of his difpleafure, accor-
ding as their behaviour has been : For thus he fays of Simeon
and Levi, in regard to the Slaughter of the Shechemites, Curfed
he their anger, for it was fierce ; and their wrath, for it was cruel.
Gen. xlix. 7.
(/>) Patrick's Comment, in locum.
* Procopius [De bello Vandal. 1.2. c. 10.] tells as, that in
the province of Tingitana, and in the very ancient city of Tingis>
which was founded by them, there are two great pillars to be
(ecu, of white ftone, erected near a large fountain, with an in-
fcription in Phoenician characters to this purpofe, We are people
preferred by fight from that rover Jefus, the fon of Nave, who
purfued us. And what makes it very probable that they bent their
ilight this way, is the great agreement, and almoft identity of the
Punic, with the Canaanitifli or Hebrew language ; Cahnei's Dic-
tionary 0/1 the word Canaan.
was
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 269
was doomed likewife to be a fervant to Japhet ; and did A- M-
not the Greeks and Romans, defcended from Japhet, ut- AnV'chrif
terly deftroy the relicks of Canaan, who fled to Tyre, i347) <^c.
built by the Sidonians; to Thebes, built by Cadmus ; and from Gen.
to Carthage, built by Dido ? For who has not heard of^"JJ|" *?
the conquefts of the Romans over the Africans ? ch. p.
The blefling upon Japhet is, that his territories fhould w— ^-. »^i
be enlarged : (f) and can we think otherwife, when (as.Tncl:,lefi-
we fhall lhew anon) not only all Europe, and the Leuer1"^,^01*
Alia, but Media likewife, and part of Armenia, Iberia,
Albania, and the vaft regions towards the north, which
anciently the Scythians, but now the Tartars, inhabit, fell
to the fhare of his pofterity ? It was likewife declared, that
he fhould dwell rn the tents of Shem ; and is it not noto-
rious, that the Greeks and Romans invaded, and conquer-
ed that part of Afia where the pofterity of Shem had plant-
ed themfelves ? that both Alexander and Ciefar were ma-
ilers of Jerufalem, and made all the countries thereabout
tributary ? " You (fays (r) Juftin Martyr, fpeaking to
T/ypho the Jew concerning his nation) who are de-
fcended from Shem, according as God has appointed,
came into the land of the children of Canaan, and
made it your own ; and in like manner, according to
the divine decree, the fons of Japhet (the Romans) have
broke in upon you, feized upon your whole country,
and ftill keep pofleflion of it. Thus the fons of Shem
(fays he) have overpowered and reduced the Canaanite ;
and the fons of Japhet have fubdued the fons of Shem,
and made them their vaffals ; fo that the pofterity of
Canaan are become, in a literal fenfe, fervants of fer-
vant s."
There is fomething peculiar in the blefling which Noah And upon
gives Shem ; for (s) bleffcd (fays he) be the Lord God gfSkem, veri*
Shem : but why the God of Shem, and not the God of le '
Japhet ? As to the behaviour of thefe two fons towards
their father, it was the fame. They joined, in the pious
office done to him ; fo that in this refpedt they were equal,
and equally deferving of a blefling. Nay, if any prefer-
ence was due to either from the father, it was to Japhet,
his firft-born ; for fo he was, though commonly laft named,
when the fons of Noah are mentioned together. Now this
being the cafe, how comes Shem to be preferred ? And what
(g) Patrick's Commentary. (r) Dial contra Tiyp. Jud.
p. 288. (j) Gen. ix. 26.
Voj.. I. 3 C «
270 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. is the blefiing conferred on him ? A temporal bleffing it '
i «s 7, &c. could not be ; for that was before confirmed with all the
Ant. Chni fons Q£ Noah. Day and night, furnmer and winter,
frorn' Gen feed-time and harveft, were a common gift to the world,
viii. 10. io and beftowed (as our Saviour obferves) on the evil, as
the end of wejj as 0)l tjje good. We may therefore prefume, that the
ij_'.— ' _ _,bleffinq- here given to Shem was of a different kind, found-
ed upon (f) a better covenant, and eflablifhed upon better
pro:nifcs, than any temporal grant can be. And according-
ly we may obferve, that the fame promife which was given
to Adam after the fall, viz. that the feed of the woman
fhould finally prevail,, was renewed to Noah before thc^
flood ; for (u) with thee will I eftablijh my covenant, fays
God ; and therefore, as the Apoftle to the Hebrews tells
us of this patriarch, (x) that he was heir of the right eouf
nefs, which is by faith ; he certainly forefaw, that in Seth's
family God would fetd'e his church ; that of his feed Chrift
fhould be born according to the fiefh ; and th'at the cove-
nant which fhould reft ore man to himfelf and to his ma-
ker, mould be conveyed through his pofterity. And this
accounts for the preference given to Shcm ; for Noah fpake
not of his own choice, but declared the couniel of God,
who had now, as he frequently did afterwards, chofen the
younger before the elder.
Thus it appears upon inquiry, that thefe prophecies of
Noah were not the fumes of indigefted liquor, but (y) the
words of truth andfobernefs : and though their fenfe was not
io apparent at the time of their being pronounced, yet
their accompliihment has now explained their meaning,
and verified that obiervation of the Apoftle, (which very
probably alludes to the 'very predictions now before us), No
prophecy is of any private interpretation ; for the prophecy
came not of old time by the will of men, but holy men of Cod
fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghofl.
DISSERTATION I.
Of the prohibition of blood.
The mean- r g ^HE grant which God was pleafed to give Noah and
^hibition *- ilis polity. to eat the flefh of all living creatures,
has this remarkable reftriclion in it, (2) But fiejh, with the
(t) Hfb. viii 6. {u) Gen. vi. 18. (.v) Htb. xi. 7-
{y) Atfs xxvi. 25. h) Gen. ix. 4,
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. < 271
life thereof, xvhich is the blood thereof /ball y:u not eat. ^ ^
Whether this prohibition related to the eating of things 1657, &c.
ftrangied, and fuch as died of themlelves, in which the Anr- ( )inl-
blood was fettled, (as (a) fome will have it), or to the eat-.£^'.<
ing or" the tlefh of creatures reeking in blood, and their viii. 10. to
limbs cut off while they themlelves were yet alive, (as o- l'le end °?
thers (b) imagine), is not fo material here to inquire ; fincc !_^- ,
the former was prohibited by fubfequent laws, both (c) in
the Jcwiih and Chriftian church, and the latter was a prac-
tice too abhorrent to human nature, one would think, to
need any prohibition at all. Whether therefore it be blood
congealed, or blood mingled in the iieih, that is here pri-
marily intended, the injunction mull at leaft equally extend
to blood iimple and unmixed ; nor can any interpretation
imaginable be more natural and obvious than this :
" Though I give you the flelh of every creature that you
" ihall think proper to make ufe of for food, yet I do not
" at the fame time give you the blood with it. The blood
" is the life, or vehicle, or chief iuftrument of life, in eve-
" ry creature ; it rauft therefore be referred for another
" ufe, and not be eaten."
This is the true fenfe of the prohibition, compared with-T *iue"
. ,. r . t • • 1 i 1 ■ n . 1 ■ f:ion 'here-
thele parts or the .Levitical law wherein we rind it re-en- Un0U.
joined : but then the queftion is, whether this injunction
be obligatory upon us now, under the dilpeniation of
• the gofpel ? or, whether the goipel, which is the law of
liberty, has fet us free from any fuch obfervance ? and a
queftion it is that ought the rather to be determined, be-
caufe fome have made it a matter of no fmall fcruple to
themfelves, whilft others have palled it by with neglect, as
a law of temporary duration only, and now quite abro-
gated.
That therefore the reader may, in this matter, chiefly
judge for himfelf, I (hall fairly ftate the arguments on both
fides ; and when I have done this, by a fhort examination
into the merits of each evidence, endeavour to convince
myfelf, and others, on which fide of the . queftion it is
that truth preponderates ; and confequently, what ought
to be the practice of every good Chriftian in relation to
this law.
Thofe who maintain the lawfulnefs of eating blood, 7*e aISV"
do not deny but that this prohibition obliged Noah and hisjjjf
(«?) St. Chryfoftom, and Ludovicus Dc Dk'.i. (b) Maimo
nides, and our Selden Qejure gentium. (r) Vi&* Lev. xviL 12. ;
and Acts xv. 20.
3 C 2 pofterity,
ments for
eating
of blood/'
2 j z The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. M. pofterity, i.e. all mankind, to the time of the promulga-
j<5*7, &c. tion of the law, do not deny, but that, at the giving of the
2>nt &c law, this prohibition was renewed, and more explicit rea-
fromGen. fons were given for the obfervation of it ; nay, do not de-
viii. zo. to ny, but that under the gofpel it was enjoined, by a very
.ie of competent authority, to fome particular Chriftians at leaft,
;for fome determinate time. But then they contend, that
during thefe feveral periods, there could be no moral obli-
gation in the injunction, but that, (fetting aiide the divine
authority) (d) neither if they did eat, were they the ivorfe,
neither if they did not eat, were they the better.
For if there was any moral turpitude in the act of eat-
ing blood, or things commixed with blood, how comes it
to pais (fay they) that though God prohibited his own people
the Jews, yet he fuffered other nations to eat (e) any thing
that died of itf elf , and confequently had the blood fettled
in it ? If (f) meat commendeth us to God, the fame
^providence which took care to reftrain the Jews (g) (for
is he the God of the Jews^'only ; is he not alfo of the Gen-
tiles P) from what was deteftable to him, as well as abhor-
j-ent to human nature, would have laid the fame inhibition
upon all mankind ; at leaft he would not have enjoined hiis*
own people to give to a profelyte of the gate, or to fell to
an alien or Heathen fuch meat as would neceffarily enfnare
them in fin.
The law therefore which enjoined Noah and his chil-
dren to abftain from blood, muft neceffarily have been a law
peculiar to that time only, (h) Cain, in the firft age of
the world, had flain Abel, while there were but few perfons
in it : God had now deftroyed all mankind, except eight
perfons ; and to prevent the fate of Abel from befalling any
of them, he forbids murder under a capital pupifhment ;
and to this purpofe, forbids the ufe of blood, as a proper
guard upon human life in the infancy of the world.
Under the Mofaic covenant he renews this law indeed,
but then he eftablifhes it upon another foundation, and
makes blood therefore prohibited, becaufe he had appointed
it (i) to be offered upon the altar, and to make an atone-
ment for mens fouls : for it is the blood (faith he) that
makcth an atonement for the fold; and what was referved
[f) x Cor. viii. 8. (e) Deut. xiv. 21. (f) iCor. viii. 8.
(g) Rom. iii. 29. (h) Mifcellanea facra, vol. 2. (») Lev.
xvii. 11.
for
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 273
for religious purpofes was not at that time convenient to A- M.
be eat. But now, that thefe purpofes are anfwered, and^^'cnri*:
theie facrifices are at an end, the reafon of our abftinencea347, &c.
has ceafed ; and confequently our abftinence itfelf is nofr°m Gen-
, , * . • vm. io. to
longer a duty. . . the end of
Blood, we allow, had ftill fomething more facred in it : cn. 9.
it was a type of the facrifice of Chrift, who was to be <
offered upon the altar of his crofs ; but that oblation be-
ing now made, the reafon of its appropriation, and being
with-held from common ufe, is now no more. And,
though the council at Jerulalem made a decree, even fub-
fequent to the facrifice of Chrift, that the brethren, who
•were of the gentiles, Jhou/d abjlain from things Jirangled,
And from blood', yet before we can determine any thing
from this injunction, the occaiion, place, time, and other
circumftances of it, muft be carefully looked into.
The occafion of the decree was this, While Paul
and Barnabas were preaching the gofpel at Antioch, cer-
tain perfons, converted from Judaifm, came down from
Jerufalem, and, very probably, pretending a commiffion
from the apoftles, declared it their opinion, that whoever
embraced the Chriftian religion, was obliged, at the fame
time, to be circumcifed, and obferve the whole law.
The place, where the queftion arofe, was Antioch,
where (as Jofephus tells us) there was a famous Jewifh
univerfity, full of profelytcs of the gate, (as they Avcrc
called), and who, in all probability, were converted by the
men of (k) Cyprus and Cyrene, who were among thofe
that were difperfed at the iirft perfecution, which imme-
diately enfued the martyrdom of Stephen.
The perfons who moved this queftion were (/) feme
of the feEl of the Pharifees, converted to Chriftianity ; but
ftill fo prejudiced in favour of their old religion, or at leaft
of the divine rite of circumcifion, that they thought there
was no coming to Chrift without entering in at that gate.
The perfons to whom the queftion related, (m) were
profelytcs of the gate, i. e. Gentiles by birth, but who had
renounced the Heathen religion as to all idolatry, and were
thereupon permitted to live in Paleftine, or where-ever the
Jews inhabited ; and had feveral privileges allowed them,
upon condition, that they would obferve the laws of fo-
ciety, and conform to certain injunctions that (n) Moles
had prescribed them.
(i) Adsxi 20. (/)Ch. xv. *, (») Mifccllsmea facn,
vol. 2. («) Lev. xvii.
The
274 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. M. The time when this queftion arofe, was not long af-
A<SS7'r^f;f ter t^ie converilon of Cornelius ; fo that this body of pro-
felytes was, very probably, the firft large number of Gen*
tiles that were received into the Chriftian church, and this
the firft time that the queftion was agitated, — r» ~" Whether
*.* the profelytes of the gate, who (as the zealots pretend-
" ed) could not lb much as live among Jews without cir-
" cumciiion, could be allowed to be a part of the Chriftian
" church without it ?"
Under thefe circumftances the council at Jerufalem
convened, and accordingly made their decree, that the pro-
felytes of the gate (for it is perfons of this denomination on-
ly which their decree concerns) Jhould (o) abjiainfrom the
meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things
flrangled, and from fornication ; the very things which,
(p) according to the law of Moles, they engaged themfelves
to abftain from, when they were firft admitted to the pri-
vilege of fojourning among the Jews. So that, in effect,
the decree did no more than declare the opinion of thofc
who made it, to thofe to whom it was fent, viz. that Chri-
ftianity did not alter the condition of the profelytes, in re-
fpect of their civil obligations; but that, as they were
bound by thefe laws of Mofes before their converfion, fo
were they ftill ; and confequently, that the fenfe of St Paul
is the fame with the fenfe of the council at that time;
(q) tet every one abide in the calling, i. e. in the civil ftate
and condition wherein he is called. But fuppofing the
decree to extend farther than the profelytes of Antioch, yet
there was another reafon why the council at Jerufalem
fhould determine in this manner, and that was — ~ the
ftrong averfion which they knew the Jewifh converts
would have conceived againil the Gentiles, had they been
indulged the liberty of eating blood ; and therefore, to
compromife the matter, they laid on them this prudent re-
ftraint, from the fame principle that we find St Paul de-
claring himfelf in this manner: (/-) Though I am free from
all men, yet have I made my f elf a fervani unto all, that I
might gain the more. Unto the Jew, I became as a Jew,
that I might gain the Jew; to the weak became I as
weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all things
to all men, that I might by all means favefome:
Nay, admitted the decree was no.: made with this
view, yet, being founded on laws which concerned the
(o) A6ls xv. 29. (/>) Vid. Lev. xvii. and xviii. (q) 1 Cor.
vii. 20. (r) ,Ch. be. 19. 20. 22-
Jewifh.
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 1*}$
Jewifh polity only, it could certainly laft no longer than A. M.
that government Lifted ; and consequently, ever Since the l6*7> <&?'
° 1.1 • ■ j jiTi r j Ant. Chrif.
tcmple-worlhip has expired, and the Jews have cealed to 7j £.,..
be a political body, it mult have been repealed ; and ac- from Gen.
cordingly, if we look into the goSpel, Say they, we may™1- *°, to
there find a repeal of it in full form. For therein we arecn
told, (s) that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink,
but right eoufnefs, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghofl g
(t) that meat commendeth us not unto God', (a) that what
gojth into the mouth dejileth not the man ; (x) that to the
pure, all things are pure ; and (y) that there is nothing un-
clean of itfelf, but only to him that efteemeth it to be un-
clean, it is unclean; for every creature of God is good, and
nothing is to be refufed, if it be received with thankfgivings ,
for it is fanclified with the word of God and prayer (z) ;
And therefore we are ordered, (a) that whatever is fold in
the Jhambles, even though it be a thing offered to idols,
that to eat, ajlcing no queflions for confcience fake ; and
are told, that (b) whoever commandcth us to abjlain from
meats, which God has created to be received with thankfgiving
af them that believe, and know the truth, ought to be rank-
ed in the number of Seducers.
In a word, the very genius of the Christian religion,
Say they, is a charter of liberty, and a full exemption from
the law of MoSes. It debars us Srom nothing, but what
has a moral turpitude in it, or at leaft what is too baSe
and abject: for a man that has the revelation of a glorious
and immortal life in the world to come : and as there is
no tendency of this kind in the eating of blood, they there-
fore conclude, that this decree of the apoftles either coa-
ceimed the (c) Jewifh prolelytes only, who, in virtue of the
obedience they owed to the civil laws of Paleftine, were
to abftain Srom blood ; or obliged none, but the Gentiles
of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, to whom it was directed ;
was calculated for a certain SeaSon only, either to prevent
giving offence to the Jews, who were then captious, or to
reconcile Gentile and Jewifh converts, who were then at
Some variance ; but was to laft no longer than till the Jews
and Gentiles were formed into one communion. So that
now, the prohibition given by God to Noah, the laws gi-
(j) Rom. xiv. 17. (/) rCor. viii. 8. (u) Matth. xv- II.
(x) Tit. i. 15. (j.) Rom. xiv. 14. (2) 1 Tim. iv. 4. 5- i
(a) 1 Cor. x. 25. 28. (b) 1 Tim. iv. I. 3. (c) Miiccl-
hnea Sacra, vol. 2.
ven
276 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. ven by Mofes to the Ifraelites, and the decree fent by the
*5*7' ^t apoftles to the Chriftians at Antioch, are all repealed and
' ^ ' gone, and a full licence given us to eat blood with the fame
from Gen. indifference, as any other food ; if fo be we thereby (d)
via. 10. to give no o fence to our weaker brethren, for whom Cbrijl died.
the end of^ -n, r , • • 1 • • • -n,
ck . Ihole who maintain the contrary opinion, viz. lhat
i the eating of blood, in any guife whatever, is wicked and
unlawful, found the chief of their arguments upon the li-
mitation of the grant given to Noah, the realbns that are
commonly devifed for the prohibition, and the literal fenfc
of the apoftolic decree.
The argu- (e) When princes give grant of lands to any of their
ments a- fhbiects, fay they, they ufually referve fome royalties (fuch
gainft the ^ . J • i \ j n • 1 c
latin? of as tne mines> or minerals) to themlelves, as memorials or
blood. their own fovereignty, and the other's dependence. If the
grant indeed be given without any referve, the mines and
minerals may be fuppofed to be included in it ; but when
it is thus exprefsly limited, " You mall have fuch and fuch
" lordfhips and manors, but you fhall not have the mines
" and minerals with the lands, for feveral good reafons
" fpecified in the patent ;" it muft needs be an odd turn
of thought to imagine, that the grantee has any title to
them ; and yet this is a parallel cafe : for when God has
thus declared his will to the children of men, " You
" fhall have the flefh of every creature for food, but you
" fhall not eat the blood with it;" it is every whit as
ftrange an inference, to deduce from hence a general right
to eat blood.
The commandment given to Adam is, (/) Of every
tree in the garden thou foalt freely eat ; but of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil, thou fjalt not eat. This is
the fir ft law : and the fecond is like unto it, (g) Every
moving thing, that moveth, fhall be meat for you ; even as
the green herb, have I given you all things ; but flejh,
■with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, fljall you
not eat. This, upon his donation both to Adam and Noah,
God manifeftly referves to himfelf, as an acknowledgment
of his right, to be duly paid ; and when it was relaxed or
repealed, fay they, we cannot tell.
Nay, fo far from being repealed, that it is not only in
his words to Noah, that God has declared this inhibition,
but in the law, delivered by his fervant Mofes, he has ex-
(d) i Cor. viii ii. &c. (e) Vid. Revelation examined, vol. i.
{f) Gen. ii. 16. 17. (g) Ch. ix. 3. 4-
plained
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 177
plained his mind more fully concerning it. (h) IVhatfoever a. M.
man there' is, of the hoafe of (frael, or of the ftrangers, l^si> <^c.
that fojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood, C^
I will even fet my face againft that foul, and -will cut him from Gen'.
»f from among his people. This is a fevere commination, viii. 10. to
lay they ; and therefore obferve, how ofc, in another *c end of
place, he reiterates the injunction, as it were, with one ,_^,— * . _f
breath, (z) Only befure, that thou eat not the blood, for the
blood is the life, and thou may eft not eat the life with the jlefh.
Thou Jhalt not eat it ; thou (halt pour it upon the earth, as
water; thou fljalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee,
and thy children after thee.
Now, there are feveral reafons, continue they, why God
fhould be fo importunate in this prohibition. For having
appointed the blood of his creatures to be offered for the
fins of men, he therefore requires, that it fhould be reli-
gioufly fet apart for that purpofe ; and having prohibited the
fin of murther under a fevere penalty, he therefore guards
againft it, by previoufly forbidding the eating of blood,
left that fhould be an inlet to favagenefs and cruelty.
The Scythians, (as (k) Herodotus affures us), from drink-
ing the blood of their cattle, proceeded to drink the blood
of their enemies ; and were remarkable for nothing fo
much, as their horrid and brutal actions. The animals,
that feed on blood, are perceived to be much more furious
than others that do not ; and thereupon they obferve, that
blood is a very hot, inflaming food; that fuch foods
create choler, and that choler eafily kindieth into cruelty.
Nay, they obferve farther, that eating of blood gave oc-
caiion to one kind of early idolatry among the Zabii, in
the eaft, viz. the worlhip of demons, whofe food, as
they imagined, was blood ; and therefore they, who adored
them, had communion with them by eating the fame food.
Good reafon therefore, fay they, had God in the gofpel,
as well as the law, to prevent a practice which he could
not but forefee would be attended with fuch pernicious ef-
fects.
For the apoftolic decree, as they argue farther, did
not relate to one feci of people only, the profelytes of the
gate, who were lately converted to Chril'tianity ; nor was
it directed to fome particular places only, and withadefign
to anfwer fome particular ends, the prevention of offence,
or the x-econciliation of contending parties ; to iubiift for
(^>) Lev. xvii. 10. (/) Deut. xii. 2?. ire. (k) Lib. 4.
Vol. I. 2 D a
2 7 8 The Hiitory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A, M. a determinate time, and then to lofe all its obligation :
V557' ^-.but it concerned all Chriftians, in all nations, and in all
^347, &c. *^uture ages of the chmxh; was enacted for a general irfe
from Gen. and intent ; and has never fince been repealed : and to
viu. to tofupport thefe aiTertions, they proceed in this method.
ch.Q™ °£ before the palling of this decree, fay they, St Paul
^preached Chriftianity to the whole body of the Gentiles at
Antioch. For he had not long preached in the fynagogues,
before the Gentiles (/) befought him, that he would preach
to them the fame words, i. e. the doctrine of Jefus Chrift,
on the next Sabbath day ; and accordingly we are told,
that on the Sabbath day, came almoji the -whole city together
to hear the word of God, which certainly implies a concourfe
of people more than the profelytes of the gate ; nay, more
than the whole body of the Jews, who were but a hand-
ful, in comparifon of the reft of the inhabitants of that great
city ; and that this large company was chiefly made up of
Gentiles, the fequel of the hiftory informs us. For when the
(?n) Jews faiv the multitude, they were filed with envy, and
fvake againft thofe things which were fpoken by Paul, con-
tradicting and blafpheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold, andfaid, It was neceffary that the word of Godjhould
frjl have been fpoken to you ; but feeing ye put it from you,
and judge yourfclves unworthy of evsrlajling life, lo, we
turn to the Gentiles. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad, and glorifed the word of the Lord ; and as
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed', and the
•word of the Lord was publifjed throughout all the region.
Now, this tranfaction at Antioch, fay they, happened
feven years before the decree againft blood and things
ftrangled was parTed at Jerufalem ; and therefore, as the
Gentiles, not in Antioch only, but in all the region round
about, were no ftrangers to the doclrine of Jefus Chrift,
there is reafon to fuppofe, that this decree, when parTed,
was not confined to one particular fet of men, but directed
to all Gentile converts at large. For hear what the pre-
sident of the council fays upon this occafion ; (?z) Where-
fore my fentence is, that we trouble not them, who from
among the Gentiles are turned to God; but that we write -
y.nto them, that they abjlain from pollutions of idols, and
from fornication, and from things flrangled, and from
blood : for Mofes of old time hath in every city them that
•preach him, being read in the fynagogue every Sabbath day.
(/) Acts xiii. 42. ire. (m) A&sxiii. 45. ire. (») Ads
X\\ 10. to 22,
, ' - My
Chap I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 279
My fentence (fays the apoftle) is, that ye write unto A- M-
the Gentile converts upon thefe points ; for Mofes has thofc [f^'r^'e
of old in every city that preach him, i. e. there is no neceffi- i347j '&c.
ty of writing to any Jewifh convert, or any profelyte con- frora Gen.
vert to Chriftianity, to abftain from thefe things, becaufev,'"' *°: tof
all that are admitted into fynagogues, (as the profelytes c'i,^ 9.
were), know all thefe things fulRciently already. And ac- w-y— ^
cordingly, upon this fentence of St James, the decree was
founded, and directed (according to the nature of the thing)
to thofe whom it was fitting and neceffary to inform in
thefe points, i. e. to thofe who were unacquainted with the
writings of Mofes.
The letter indeed which contained the decree, was di-
rected to the brethren at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia ; but
it would be fhocking, and unchriftian to think, that the
precepts of an apoftolic epiftle were obligatory to thofe
only to whom the epiftle was directed. The purport of
it concerned all. It was to apprife the Heathen converts
to Chriftianity, that they were exempted from the obfer"
vance of the law of Mofes, except in four inftances laid
down in that canon ; and as it was of general concern for
all converts to know, the apoftles, we may prefume, left
copies of it in all the churches : for fo we are told exprefs-
ly of St Paul, and his companions, that (0) as they vjent
through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep,
which were ordained of the apoftles and elders, that were at
Jeritfalem ; andfo were the churches eflablifbed in the faith ',
and increafed in number daily.
The apoftles, fay they, out of Chrifcian prudence, might
do many things to prevent offence, and to accommodate
matters to the peoples good-liking : but certainly it looks
below the dignify of a fynod, to meet, and debate, and de-
termine a qucftion, with the greateft folemnky, merely to
ferve a prefent exigence ; to leave upon record a decree
which they knew would be but of temporary obligation ;
and yet, could not but forefee, would occafion endlefs
fcruples, and difputes in all future ages of the church.
If it was to be of fo fhort a continuance, why was not the
repeal notified, and why were not fo many poor, ignorant
people faved, as died martyrs in the attcftation of it ? But,
above all, how can we fuppofe it confident with the honour
2nd juftice of the apoftles, to impofe things as neceiTary,
which were but of tranfient and momentary duration ?
Obfcrve the words of the decree, (cry they), It feem-
ci good unto the Holy Ghofl, audio as, to lay vpon you no
(e) Ch. x\\. 4. 5.
3 D 2 greater
2 8o The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. mi greater burthen, than thofe neceffary things, viz. that ye ab'
i«S7. &c ■ Jiain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from
i>47 ire things flrangled, and from fornication. If thefe abftinen-
fromGen. ces were only intended to be enjoined for a feafon, could
v)h. ao. to they properly be enjoined under the denomination otnecef-
t^- end otfary things ? Is that the appellation for duties of a tran-
jiicnt and temporary obfervation ? Did neither the apoftles,
nor the Koly Ghoft, know the diftinction between neceffary
and expedient ? Or, fuppofe it not convenient to make the
diftinclion at that time, how come things of a temporary,
and thoie of an eternal obligation, to be placed upon the
fame foot of neceffity in the fame decree ? Or, were for-
nication and idolatrous pollutions to be abstained fubm,
only for a feaion, in compliment to the infirmity of the
Jews, or in order to make up a breach between fome new-
ly initiated converts ? Thefe are abfurdities, fay they,
which cannot be avoided, when men will affert the tempo-
rary obligation of this decree. v
Some general declarations in Scripture, efpecially in St
Paul's epiilles, feem indeed like a repeal of it ; but then
if we confider the fcope and occafion of thefe declarations,
we fhali foon perceive, that they were intended to be taken
in a limited fenfe, otherwife they are not confiftent with
the decree itfelf. Our bleffed Saviour, for inftance, tells
the people, that, not that ivhich goeth into the mouth defileih
the man, but that ivhich coyneth out oj it : but now, if this
declaration of his deltrcys the validity of the apoftolic de-
cree, it will follow, ift, That this decree was repealed jufl
twenty years before it was made ; which is a fuppofition
fomewhat extraordinary : and, idly, That the whole body
of the apoltles did, after full debate, make a moft lolemn
decree, and that under the influence of the Spirit of God,
in direct contradiction to the exprels declaration of their
Lord and M after, which is a little too contiguous to blaf-
phemy ; and therefore let us confider the occafion of our
Saviour's words.
The Pharifees, it fecms, were offended at his difciples,
for fitting down to meat before they had wafhed their hands,
?.s being a violation cf one of their traditional precepts.
\Y hereupon our Saviour tells the company, Not that which
goeth into the mouth defkth the man ; never meaning to
give them a permifflon to eat any thing prohibited by the
law, but only to inftruct them in this, That there was
not all that religion, or profanation of religion, as the
Pharifees
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 2 8 1
Pharifees pretended, in obferving or not obferving the tra- A. M.
dition of the elders, by eating with wafhed or unwafhed l6*7, ^«
hands ; that the thine; itfelf was of an indifferent nature : , ,nt* y
nor could a little foil taken in at the mouth, by eating with from Gen.
dirty hands, defile the man, becaufe nothing of that kind viii- *"• 'Q
could properly be called a pollution. *?* cn<^ of
St Paul himfelf was one of the council of Jerufalem
when the prohibition of blood was ratified by the Spirit of
God, and impofed on the Gentiles who were converted to
the Chriftian faith ; and therefore we can hardly think,
that in his epiftles, which were written not many years af-
ter, he Ihould go about to abolilh the obfervation of thofe
precepts which, after mature deliberation, were enacted
by a general afTembly of the church. And therefore,
when he tells us that the kingdom^ of God, i. e. the Chriftian
religion, confijhth not of meat and drink, and that meat com-
mendeth us not wi£b~God, he mult be underftood in a com-
parative fenfe, viz. That it neither confifts in, nor com-
mendeth us (0 much, as holinefs and purity of life. When
he declares, That every creature of God is good, that no-
thing is unclean of itfelf, and that to the pure all things are
■pure, &c. he muft neceffarily be underftood with this re-
ftraining claufe, — In cafe there be no particular ftatute to
the contrary ; for where there is one, all the fanctity in the
world will not give a man a toleration to break it. And
when he complains of lome mens commanding us to ab-
ftain from certain meats, as an infringement upon our Chri-
ftian liberty, and a branch of the doctrine of devils, the
meats which they forbad muft be fuppofed to be lawful in
their kind, and under no divine prohibition, otherwife we
bring the apofcles who inhibited the uie of blood under the
like imputation.
It cannot be denied indeed, that (p) St Paul allows
Chriftians to eat things offered to idols, which may feem to
invalidate this apoftolic decree. But the anfwer to this is,
(q) That the plain intention of the council at Jerufa-
lem, in commanding to abftain from meats offered to idols,
was to keep Chriftians from idolatry, or, as St James ex-
preffes it, from pollutions of idols; and the true Way to
effect this, they knew, was by prohibiting all commu-
nion wkh idols, and idolaters in their feafts, which were in-
ftituted in honour of their idols, and were always kept in
their temples : but how is this command defeated by St£
Paul's permitting the Corinthians to eat any part of a
(/>) 1 Cor. x. 27. (q) Revelation examined, vol. 2. p. 66.
creature
282 The Hiftory of die B IB L E, Book II.
A. M. creature fold in the fhambles, or fet before them in private
i«s7» <b-c. houfes, (though that creature might chance to have been
Ant'C^lf' flam m honour to an idol), fince the Chriftian who eat it
fromGen. *n tn^s manner did not eat it in honour to the idol, but
to merely as common food ?
of To illuftrate this by a parallel inftance. Suppofe that the
,apoftolic decree had commanded Christians to abftain from
things ftolen, would not any one conceive, that the delign
of this command was to prohibit theft, and all communion
with thieves in their villainy? Yes, furely : Suppofe
then, that any one of the council mould after this tell the
people whom he preached to, that they might buy any
meat publicly fold in the fhambles, or fet before them in
private houfes, ofking no queftions for confcie nee fake, though
poffibly the butcher or the hoft might have ftolen the meat ;
would any one think that this permiffion was intended to
invalidate the decree of abstaining from things ftolen ?
And if fuch a construction would be abfurd in the one cafe,
why fhould it not be deemed fo in another ? efpecially,
when St Paul himfelf fo exprefsly, fo folemnly deters Chri-
ftians from all participation in idolatrous feafts ; ir) The
things which the Gentiles facrifice (fays he) they facrifice to
devils, not to God; and I ivould not that ye fhould have fel-
loiu/hip with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and
of devils ; ye cannot he partakers cf the Lords tabic, and of
devils.
In a word, (fay they), whatever the fenfe of certain paf-
fages in St Paul's writings may feem to be, they cannot be
fuppofed to contradict the decree at Jeiufalem : a decree
to which himfelf confented, nay, which he himfelf princi-
pally occaiioned, and which he himfelf actually carried a-
bout, and depoiited with the feveral chuixhes. For to ima-
gine, that with his own hands he depofited the decree in
one church, under the fanction of a canon ratified by the
Spirit of God, and then immediately went to another, and
preached againft that very canon, and decried it as incon-
sistent with Christian liberty, is to charge the Apoftle with
fuch an inconiiftency of behaviour, folly, and prevarica-
tion, as but badly comports with the character of an ambaf
fador ofjefus Chrifl. And therefore, unlefs we are mind-
ed to impair the authority, and fap the foundation of re-
vealed religion, we mull: allow the decree to be ftill in
force ; and the command which prohibits the eating of
blood, ftill chargeable upon every man's confeience. A
(r) i Cor. x. 20. 21.
command,
Chap. I. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 283
command given by God himfelf to Noah, repeated to A. M.
Mofes, and ratified by the apoitles of Jefus Chrift : given V5*7' j^f'
immediately after the flood, when the world, as it were, ' ^
began anew, and the only one given on that occalion ; re- from Gen.
peated with awful folemnity to the people whom God had v'u- *°- to
Separated from the reft of the woi'ld to be his own ; repeat- 'he en °
ed with dreadful denunciations of divine vengeance upon ■_— - _j
thofe who fliould dare to tranfgrefs it ; and ratified by the
molt folemn and facred council that ever was aflembled
upon earth, acting under the immediate influence of the
Spirit of God ; tranfmitted from that facred aflembly to
the feveral churches of the neighbouring nations by the
hand of no meaner melTengers than two bifhops and two
apoitles ; aflerted by the beft writers, and moft philofo-
phic fpirits of their age, the Chriftian apologifts, and fealed
with the blood of the beft men, the Chriftian martyrs ;
confirmed by the unanimous confent of the fathers, and
reverenced by the practice of the whole Chriftian church
for above 300 years, and of the eaftern church even to
this very day.
Theie are fome of the chief arguments on both fides of The deci-
the queftion : and to form a judgment hereupon, we may fion °f thc
obferve, That though this prohibition of eating blood quc on'
can hardly be deemed a commandment of moral obligation,
yet is it a pofitive precept, which cannot but be thought of
more weight and importance, for being fo oft and fo fo-
lemnly enjoined ; that though the reafons alledged for its
injunction are not always fo convincing, yet the prevention
of cruelty and murder, which is immediately mentioned af-
ter it, will, in all ages, be ever efteemed a good one ; and
though the liberty granted in the gofpel feems to be great,
yet can it hardly be underltood without fome reftriction.
It feemed once good to the Holy Ghoft, among other ne-
ceffary things, to prefcribe an abftinence from blood ; and
when it feemed otherwife to him, we are no where, that I
know of, inftruc'ted. Could it be made appear indeed, that
this prefcription was temporary and occafional, defigned to
bind one fet of men only, or calculated for the infant-date
of the church, the queftion would be then at an end ;
but fince there are no proper marks in the apoftles decree,
to fhew the temporary duration of it ; and the notion of
profelytes of the gate, to whom alcne it is faid to be direcT:-
cd, (how commodious foever it may be to lolve all difficul-
ties), upon examination is found to be groundlefs or uncer-
tain, the obligation, I fear, lies upon every good Chriftian
ftill
2 84 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. JM. flail. But as this is not every one's fentiment, (s) As one
i6st, &c ■ believeth that he may eat all things, and another thinketh it
47 £** "the fafe fide of his duty to abjlain ; Jo let not him that eateth
from Gen. defpife him that eateth not ; and let not him that eateth not
viii. io. to judge him that eateth ; but judge this rather, that no man put
^he en ° ajlumbling block, or an occafion to/all, in his brother's -way.
(s) Rom. xiv. 2. 3. 13.
CHAP. II.
Of the confv.fion of languages.
The History.
A- M. TT^OR fome years after the flood, it is highly probable
AnV'chrif. -A? t^iat Noah and his family lived in the neighbourhood
1147, ire. of the mountains of Armenia, where the ark refted : that
from Gen. as they began to multiply and fpread, they thence removed
vei' into the countries of Syria ; then croffing the Tygris into
■ _ — v— .ATpfnpnran-iiaj and fo lhaping their courfe eaftward, came
Reafons for at length to the pleafant plain of Babylon, on the banks of
building the r}ie rjver Euphrates. The fertility of the foil, the de-
BalW lightfulnefs of the place, and the commodiouinefs of its fi-
tuation, made them refolve to fettle there, and to build a
city, which (hould be the metropolis of the whole earth,
and in it a vaft high tower/ which fhould be the wonder of
the world : for the prefent ufe, a kind of pharos or land-
mark, and to future ages a monument of their great power
and might.
By this project they promifed themfelves mighty matters ;
but that which chiefly ran in their heads, was their keep-
ing together in one body, that, by their united ftrength
and counfels, as the world increafed, they might bring others
under their fubjection, and make themfelves univerfal lords.
But one great difcouragement to this their project was,
That in the place which they had chofe for the fcene
of all their greatnels, there was no ftone to build with.
Perceiving, however, that there was clay enough in the
country, whereof to make bricks, * and plenty of a pitchy
' / fubftance,
* The word which our tranflators make /lime, is in Hebrew
hhemar, in Greek «o?«>i.rcf, in Latin bitumen ; and that this
plain
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 285
fubftance, called bitumen, which ' would ferve inftead of A. M.
mortar; with one content they went to work, and in a1.7*7' fc:r
ihort time eveiy hand was employed in making bricks, az47> ^.c.
building the city, and laying the foundation of a prodigi- from Gen.
Ous pile, which they purpoled to have carried up to an iin-11, to Vcr-
menfe height, and had already made a conliderabie pi'0-lw-__^j
grefs in the work, when God, dilTatisfied with their pro-
ceedings, thought proper to interpofe, and, at the expence
of a miracle, quafhed all their project at once; infomuch,
that this firft attempt of their vanity and ambition became
the monument of their folly and weaknefs.
The blelling which God had given Noah and his fons, And for the
to increafe and multiply, and replenijh the earth, had now'on[u onof
for above an hundred yeai's, exerted itfelf to good purpofe ; a
but though the number of their dependents was very large,
yet the language which they all fpake was but one, the
fame which had defcended to them \ from their great proge-
nitor,
plain did very much abound with it, wliich was of two kinds, li-
quid and folid ; that the liquid bitumen here fvvain upon the wa-
ters ; that there was a cave and fountain, which wis continually
calling it out ; and that this famous tower, at this time, and the no
lefs famous walls of Babylon, were afterwards built with this kind
of cement, is confirmed by the tcftimony of feveral profane au-
thors. For thus Strabo tells us, " In Babylonia bitumen multuni
'* nafcitur, cujus duplex eft genus, authore Er.itofthcne, liquidum
u et aridum. Liquidum vocant naphtatn, in Sufiano agro nafcens ;
" aridum vero, quod etiam congelefccre poteft, in Babylonia, fon-
" te propinquoNaphtas;" lib. 16. Thusjuflin, fpeaking of Se-
miramis, rt Haec Babyloniam condidit, (fays he), murumque ur-
" bis cocto latere circumdedit, arena; vice bitumine imerltrato, quae
f materia in illis locis paifim e tcrris exsltuat ;" lib. r. And
thus Vitruvius, who is elder than either, " Babylon e lacus eft am-
" pliffima magnitudine, habens fupranstans liquidum bitumen,
" quo bitumine, et latere tellaceo, ftruclum inurum Semiramis Ba-
*' byloni circumdedit;" lib. 8. To thefe we may add fomc mo-
dern tcitimonies, which tell us, that thefe fprings of bitumen are
called oy um Hit, the fountains of Hit ; and that they are much ce-
lebrated by the Perlians and Arabs- All modern travellers, ex-
cept Rauwolf, who went to Perfia and the Indies by the way of
Euphrates, before the difcovery of the Cape of Good Hope, men-
tion thefe fountains as a very flrange and wonderful thing. Vid,
Biblioth. Biblica, vol. r. p. 281.; Heidegger's Hilt, patiiar.
cxercit. 2r.; and Univerf. hift. lib. 1. c. 2.
+ That the children of Noah did fpeak the fame language
with Adam, is very manifeft; becaufe IVkthufrlab, the gran dii»-
Vot. I. 3 E ik«r
286 The Hiftcry of the BIBLE, Bookl.
A. M. niCor Adam, and very probably was pronounced in the.
Ant bu£ ftmc common manner. To fruftrate their undertaking
si47, &c. therefore, Gad determined with himfelr" f to confound their
from Gen. hitguage ; by which means it came to pafs, that though
xu to ver. their tongues frill retained the faculty oi.: fpeech, yet, ha-
ving loft the pronunciation of then- native language, on a fud-
den they were fo changed, and modified to the expreffion
of another, (which was of a found quite different), that the
next ftander-by could not comprehend what his neighbour
meant, and this in a ihort time ran them into the utmoft
difordei' and confufion. For thefe different dialects pro-
duced different ideas in the minds of the builders, which,
for want of understanding one another, they employed to
improper objects, and fo were obliged to delift from their
enterprize. And not only that, but being by this means
deprived of the pleafure and comfort of mutual fociety,
(except with fuch as fpake the fame language), all thole
who were of one dialect joined themlelves together, and
leaving the devoted place, (as they then thought it), depart-
ther of Noah, lived a confiderable time with him, and queftion-
lefs fpake the fame language. And that this language was no o-
ther than die Hebrew, is very probable from this argument,
That Shem, the fon of Noah, was for fome time contemporary
with Abraham, who defcended from him, and whofe family con-
tinued the fame language that they both fpake, until the time of
Moles, who recorded the hiltory of his own nation in his native
language 5 fo that what we have now in the Pentateuch, accor-
ding to the opinion of all Hebrew, and moft Chriftian writers, is
the very fame with what God taught Adam, and Adam his poftc-
rity ; Patrick's Ccmwtenfary.
■f Some commentators, from the word confound, are ready to
infer, that God did not make fome of thefe builders fpeak new,
different languages, only that they had fuch a confufed remem-
brance of the original language they fpake before, as made them
fpeak it in a quite different manner: lb that -by the various inflec-
tions, terminations, and pronunciations of divers dialects, they
could no more underftand one another, than thole who underftand
Latin can comprehend thofe who lpeak French, Italian, or Spa-
nilh, though thefe languages do certainly arifc from it. But this
yre conceive to be a great miftakc, not only becaufe it makes ail
languages extant to be no more than fo many different dialects of
the fame original, and confequently reducible to it ; but becaufe,
upon examination, it will appear, that there are certain languages
in the world {o entirely different from each other, that they agree
in no one'eiicntial property whatever; and mult therefore, at litis
time, have been of immediate infufion.
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. '287
ed in tribes, f as their choice or their chance led them, A. M.
to leek out frelh habitations. Thus God not only defeated '757' /^^r
their defign, but likevvife accomplished his own, of having, l47 &c'
the world more generally and more fpeedily peopled than from Gen.
it otherwife would have been ; and to perpetuate the me-*1 t0 ver-
mory of fuch a miraculous event, the place which was hrft _^_ iaj
called Babel, and, with fmall variation, afterwards Babylon,
from this confulion of languages, received its denomination.
This confulion of tongues (if not dilperlion of the peo-
ple) is fuppofed by moft chronologers to have fallen 101
years after the flood ; for Peleg, the foa of Eber, (who
was great grandfon to Shern), was certainly born in that
year, and is faid to have had the name Peleg given him, be*»
caufe that in his time the earth was divided.
The Objection.
lUT upon the fuppofttion that the ark reded on the
mountains of Armenia, and the family of Noah,
' for fome time, continued in that coaft ; how can they,
" with any tolerable propriety, be faid to have journeyed
" from the eaft into the land of Shin ar, when, if by Shinar
" we are to underftand the land of Chaldea or Babylon, e-
" very map will inform us, that the mountains of Arme-
" nia lie in a manner quite north of Babylon, and confe-
" quently they muft have travelled from the north, and
" not from the eaft, to have arrived at that place ?
" But Mofes perhaps might not be fo good at geography
" as he is at the multiplication of mankind. According to
" the Hebrew computation, (which is reckoned true), the
'•' new world had now fubfifted much about an hundred
" years ; and can we fuppofc, that the defcendents of no
" more than three couple (for Noah, we may now fuppofe,
" was become ciTcte, and unable to beget children) were,
" in fo fhort a time, a number fufficient to fet about the
•(- The difperfion of Noah's fons was fo ordered, that each
family and each nation dwelt by itfel'fj which could not well
be done (as Mr Mcde obferves) but by directing an orderly di-
vifion, cither by calling of lots, or chilling according to their
birth-right, after that portions of the earth were fet out, accord-
ing to the number of their nations and families ; otherwife
fqme would not have been content to go fo far north as Magog
did, • thcr were fufTcred to enjoy mote pleafant coim-
1
3 I? '< building
2$8 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Bookll.
building of a city, which was to be the metropolis of the
whole world, and of a tower, ivhofe top -was to reach ap
to heaven ?
" Defigns of this nature are generally attempted by vafr,
extenfive empires that are over-ftocked with people,
" and have multitudes of idle hands to employ ; but to
" fiippofe a fmall tribe of men, (and who of neceffity muft
;{ fame of them be bulled in other occupations), and much
" more, to fuppofe a colony or detachment only of them
'■' (as molt commentators will have it) to have had the har->
" dinefs to enterprize fo prodigious a fabric as the tower of
" Babel is repreiented, is fomething fo romantic, that it
fi puts one in mind of that fabulous ftuff of the giants pi-
(< ling one mountain upon another, to icale heaven, and
** wage war with the Gods.
" But fuppofing the ftoiy to be true, yet where would
" the hirm be in building a town to dwell in, and a
" tower for its ornament or defence ? It is a laudable
" ambition, one would think, for a people to defire to per-
" petuate their name ; and" for a city to be at unity with
" itfelf, how joyful a thing is it ! What then can we con-
" ccive mould be the reafon that God Ihould be fo high-
" ly orYended at thefe builders, as himfelf to interpofe in
" difappointing their defign ? but to interpofe in the maih
" ner he did, by fubduc~ting the old, and infuilng new
'*• languages, fo as to make them unintelligible to one ano-
" ther, this is. a thing fo unaccountable, that it would
" tempt one to think, that there was a miftake fomewherc
" in our translation.
" The Hebrew word fiaphah, which we render lan-
f* cuage, (or lip, as it is in the marginal note), has, doubt-
**. leis, very frequently that fignification ; nor is it to be de-
" nied, but that one univerfal language was fpoken by
" Noah's family. But then it appears from feveral paffages
?* in .Scripture, (particularly from Ifa. xix. 18.), that the
" word does not fo properly denote languages, as it does
" an agreement in fentiments and inclinations, which feems
" every whit as necciiary for the building of a city as the
" grcatcfl fiinilitude of dialect can be. Now, taking the
" word in this fenl'e, it may be, that what we call eon-
" founding their language, may mean confounding their
" minds, and railing a fpirit of difcord among them, which
'• might make them abandon their enterprize, and difperfe
i" into different countries; and tiien, though they might {peak
j ;hv. fame language at parting, a coniiderable diverfi-
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 2 89
" ty would naturally, and without the intervention of a A. M.
" miracle, in a Ihort time enfue. a757' f^'r
" We fee, in a thoufand years, what alterations and ' " ^T
*' deviations have been made from the Latin, in France, from Gen.
" Italv, Spain, and the Subalpine countries. In France, XI- to ver-
" the Gafcon and Pro vencial dialects are hardly underftood10'
" at Paris.: in Spain, beiides the Caftilian, there are two
" large idioms, the Portuguefe and the Catalan, neither of
" which are readily intelligible by a perfon that has always
l< lived at Madrid : and a man may know all the reft of
" the dialects which are derived from the Latin, and yet
" be wholly to feek in the Grifons language. All thefe
" tongues, however, we certainly know, have fprung from
" the Latin within thefe twelve hundred years, and the
" nations who fpeak them have conftantly maintained a
" mutual commerce and intercourfe together. If then fuch
" alterations are actually viiible in dialects (which have
" been formed from languages ft ill extant) in fo few
" years, what may we reafonably fuppofe to have been
" the fate of languages that exifted above three thoufand
" years ago ? efpecially, when men were fo totally di-
" vided from one another, as we may imagine the nrft in-
*' habitants of this globe were after this great difperfion.
"' In fliort, (a) the caufe of the variety of languages in
" the world is grounded in reafon and nature; in the
$t difference of climates, in the unfettled temper of man -
" kind, the neceffary mutability of human things, the rife
" and fall of ftatcs and empires, and change of modes
" and cuftoms, which neceflarily introduce a proportion -
" able change in language : and therefore, fuppofing the
*' Hebrew to be the primitive language, in a proper period
" of time after fuch a difperfion, all other languages will
*' be found as naturally fpringing from it as fo many
" branches from the fame flock. It is in vain then to have
" recourfe to miracles, when the bufinefs may as well be
" done without it ; when it is but fuppofing, that all lan-
" guages now extant fprung originally from one common
" root, and that they are no more than different forms
" and dialects of it, which the force of time, afefted
<" with fome incidental caufes, without the intervention"of
" any fuperior power, naturally produces ; otherwife we
" can hardly imagine how dialects that are fo near a-kia
'* came to be placed fo nearly to one another."
(«) ViJ. Sentiment dc quelque ihcohgiem fur I'hiftoire critique,
?>435si znd a kitcr to Dr Watcrland, p. 28. 29.
Tiiofe
' The Hiftory of the BIBL*E, Book II.
Thoic who have undertaken to fettle the geography of
the Holy Scriptures, tell ns, that the land of Shinar was
all that valley which the river Tygris runs along, from the
mountains of Armenia northwards to the Perfian gulf;
or at leaft to the fouthern diviiion of the common channel
of the Tygris and Euphrates, (b) So that the country of
iJ^3^T* Eden was part of the land of Shinar : and as' Eden was
probably fkuate on both fides of the aforementioned chan-
rhc proper nel, fo it is not unlikely that the valley of Shinar did extend
Sat"1 °r "^ on botil fides (but on the weftern fide, without all
*{.om ' doubt) of the river Tygris.
whence the Now the mountains of Armenia, according to the ac-
people fo- count 0f moft geographers, lie north, and not eaft, from
Shinar and Affyria ; but then it may be fuppofed (c) either
that Mofes, in this place, followed the geopraphical ftyle
of the AfTyrians, who called all that lay beyond the Tigris
the eaji country, though a great part of it, towards Arme-
nia, was really northward ; or (as fome (d) others will have
it) that as mankind multiplied, they fpread themfelves in the
country eaflward of Ararat ; and fo making fmall removes,
(from the time of their defcent from the mount to the time
of their journeying into the land of Shinar), they might
probably enough be faid to have begun their progrefs from
the eaft. But without the help of thefe folutions, and ta-
king Mofes in a literal fenfe, he is far from being miftaken.
(e) Moft geographers indeed have drawn the mountain of
Ararat a good way out of its place, and hiftorians and
commentators, taking the thing for facl:, have been much
perplexed to reconcile this lituation with its description in
Scripture : whereas, by the accounts of all travellers for
fome years paft, the mountain which now goes under the
name of Ararat lies about two degrees more eaft than the
city of Shinar or Senjar, from whence the plain, in all pro-
bability, takes its name : and therefore, if the fons of Noah
entered it on the north fide, they muft of neceflity have
journeyed f rem the eaft, or, which is the fame thing, have
' travelled weftward from the place where they fet out, in
order to arrive at the plain of Babylon.
thatall Hiftorians indeed, as well as commentators, have ge-
ind nevally given in to the common opinion, that Shem and his
S I)
build- {b) Wells's Geography, vol. i. p. 210. (c) Bochart's
Phaleg: 1. 1. cr 7. (d) Kercher^s Tunis Babel, 12. (e)
U:r'vcrfal hiflory. 1, 1. c. 2.
familr
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 291
family were not concerned in this expedition ; but for what A. M.
reafon we cannot conceive, fince there is no fact, in all the '^7, &c.
Mofaic account, more firmly> eitablifhed than this, *' ^u
that the whole race of mankind, then in being, were ac- from'Gen.
tually engaged in it. **■ to veh
As foon as Moles has brought the three fons of Noah *°\
out of the ark, he takes care to inform us, that (/) of
them was the whole earth overfpread. After he has given
us the names of their dependents, at the time of their
difperfion, he fubjoins, and ( g) by thefe were the nations
divided in the earth after the flood : and then, proceeding
to give us an account of this memorable tranfaclion, he
tells us, that (/;) the whole earth was of one language, and '
of one fpeech ; and that as they, namely the whole earth,
(/) journeyed from the eaji, they found a plain in the land
tfShinar, and dwelt there, &c. ; (k) fo that, from the be-
ginning to the end of this tranfaetion, the connection be-
tween the antecedent and relative is fo well preferved, that
there is no room to fuppofe, that any leis than all man-
kind, were gathered together on the plain of Shinar, and
afllfted in the building of Babel : nor feems it improbable,
that Mofes has made thefe unufual repetitions, to inculcate
the certainty of that fact, and to take away all ground for
iuppofmg, that any other branch of Noah's pofterity was
in any other part of the earth at that time.
The time indeed, when this tranfac"tion happened, is What die
very differently computed by chronologers, according asnumber. of
they follow the LXX interpreters, :who make it 'ct, 1 ; J1"" m'f nt
the bamantan copy, which makes it 396; or tnc rie-blvbc.
brew, which allows it to be no more than 101 years from
the flood to the confufion of tongues, and lefs, we
may fuppofe, to the firft beginning to build the tower. If
we take either of the former computation?:, the thing en-
fwers itfelf : upon a moderate nuihiplication, there will be
workmen more than enough, even without the pofterity
of Shem : but if we fubmit to the Hebrew account of time,
we ihall find ourlllves ftraitened, if we part with one third
of our complement, in fo laborious a work. There is no
neceflity however to fuppofe, (/) with fome, that every
one of thefe progenitors, as foon as married, (which was
very early), had every year twins by his wife ; which, ac-
cording to arithmetic progreillon, would amount to no lefs
(/") Gen. ix. 19. (?) Ch. x. 32. (A) Ch.xi. t.
(i) IbiJ.ver. 2. (k) Uaiverf. liiit, 1. 1. c. 2. (/) Tcm-
porarios in demoiifti chronol. 1. 2.
ihan
292 The Hiftory of the BIBlE, Book II.
A.m. than 1554420 males and females, in the fhorteft period
1757, &c given. Half the number would be fufficient to be employed
Ant. Chn£on ([^ occafion ; and (m) half the number will be no un-
fi-om -Gen reafonable fuppofition, confidering the ftrength of confti-
si. to ver. tution men had then, and the additional bleffing which
God beftowed upon them, and whereby he interefted his pe-
culiar providence, " Ut ad incrementum fobolis humane,
" acV orbis vaftitatem inftaurandam, prxcipua qusedam in
*' illis fcecunditas ineffet, quce juftam alioquin retatem an-
" teverteret ; ut vel a pueris ipiis, quod nonnulli fufpican-
" tur, probabile effet, generandi vim illis et ufum potuiflc
" fuppetere "; (n) as Petavius elegantly expreffes it.
But after all, there fcems to be no occafion for fup-
pofing an extraordinary increafe of people, or for confi-
ning the firft undertaking of this great building to the com-
pafs of one hundred years after the flood. In the tenth
chapter of Genefis, it is faid indeed, that unto Eber were
born twofons, and that the name of one was Peleg, which
being derived from an Hebrew word, that fignifies to di-
vide, has this reafon annexed to it, for in his days was the
earth divided. Now, by the fubfequent account of Peleg's
anceftors we find, that he was born in the 101ft year after
the flood ; from whence it is concluded, that the earth be-
gan to be divided at his birth. But this is a conclufion
that by no means refults from the text, which only fays
that in his days was the earth divided; words which can,
with no manner of propriety, imply, that this divifion be-
gan at his birth.
H's name indeed was called Peleg ; but it does not
therefore follow, that this name was given him at his birth.
It might have been given at any time after, from his be-
ing a principal agent among his own family, in the di-
vifion made in his days ; as feveral names have, throughout
all ages, been given upon the like accidents, not only to
private perfons, but to whole families. Or fuppofe the
name to be given at his birth, yet no reafon can be af-
figned, why it might not be given prophetically, as well as
that of Noah, from an event then forefeen, though it
•might not come to pafs for fome confiderable time after the
name was given.
(m) Ufhcr's Chron. facra. p. 28. («) Do&. temp. I. 9.
«. 34.
Since
Chap. 11. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 29?
(0) Since Peleg then, according to the facred account, A. M.
lived two hundred and thirty-nine years, and his younger ns 1, ire.
brother Jocktan, and his Ions, were a considerable colony . £'('
in the distribution oF the world, it is much more rational from' Gen.
to fuppofe, that this distribution did not begin till a goodxi- to wr .
part of Peleg's life was expended. Suppofe it however to
be no more than an hundred years after his birth; yet we
may ftill retain the Hebrew computation, and have time
and hands enough for the carrying on the great work of
Babel, before this distribution^ Since mankind might very
well be multiplied to fome millions, in the compafs of two
hundred years.
Putting all thefe considerations together then, we can Why God
hardly imagine, that there wanted a Sufficient number of^^kcd^n^
men to go upon an enterprife, which, though not ftricTlly trie]"r unc]etJ.
chargeable with Sin, becaufe there was no previous com- taking.
mand forbidding it, yet, in the fenfe of God himfelf, bold
and prefumptuous enough : (p) Behold the people is one,- and
they have all one language, dnd now this they begin to do ; this
is their SirSt attempt, and after this, nothing \ will be rc-
Jlrained from them ; they will think themfelves competent
for any thing that they Shall have a fancy to do. For
though God could have no reaibn to apprehend f any mo-
legation
(0) Revelation Examined, vol. 2. dilTert. 3. (/>) Gen.
xi. 6.
J The common verfions fay of the builders of the tower of
Babel, And now nothing will, or Shall, be retrained fro/A them,
which they have imagined to do. Bat this is falle in fact; be-
caufe God foon put a Stop to their defign by con founding
them, and fcattering I hem abroad from thev.ee> over the face of
the earth. We may obferve therefore, that the fame particle,
which is indeed Sometimes taken negatively, is eviflendy here
to be taken interrogatively, sftd is equal to the mcfl exprefs
affirmation: and therefore the text fhould thus be transited,
Shall they not be refrained in all they imagine to do P Yes, thry
Shall ; which p.ccordingly was immediately executed ; EiJ\y for a
new tranflatio >:.
f What their attempts were, the hiftorian has reprefcrntcd
in their own words : and they /aid, Go to, let as build us a
city, and a tower, ivhcfe top may reach unto heaven, Gen,.
xi 4. But far be it from any one to imagine, that thefe build-
ers could be fo Stupidly ignorant, as ever to think by this,
means to climb up to heaven, or that thty would not have
chofen a mountain, rather t'lan a ]Mairi, « a valley, toy this.
Vol. I, a V if
294. The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. Rf. legation from their attempts, (as the poets make heaven
AnV'chrY au in an uproar upon the invafion of the giants), yet, fince
2i47, &c, they were contrary to his gracious deiign of having the
from Gen earth replenished, it was an a£r. highly confident with his
xu to ver. infinite -vvifdom and goodnefs to fee them difappointed.
The divine purpole was, that men fhould not live with-
in the limits of one country only, and fo be expofed to
perpetual contentions, while every one would pretend to
make himfelf mailer of the neareft and moft fertile lands ;
but that, pofiefilng themfelves of the whole, and cultiva-
ting almoit every place, they might enjoy a proportionable
increafe of the fruits of the earth. (?) Thorns and briars
were fpringing up every where ; woods and thickets fpread-
ins; themfelves around ; wild beafts increaling ; and all this
while the fons cf Noah gathering together in a clufter, and
defigning fo to continue ; fo that it was highly feafonable
for God to confound their mif-timed projects, and difperfe
them.
Their purpofe was to make themfelves a name by en-
flaving others : but God forefaw, (r) that abfolute power
if they could once have entertained fo grofs an imagination.
It is a common hyperbole this in the facred writings, to fignify
any great and lofty building, as may be feen in Deut. i. 18.
Dan. iv. 8. and in feveral otlier places ; nor is the like manner
of expreflion unufual among profane authors likewife : for
Homer, fpeaking of the ifland of Calypfo, tells us, that in it was
a place :
681 SsvSpzci /u.ccx.pa. Tfifv/.d
Kh>i6pf,T ouyupotTT, iKa.KriT yv vpctvoftwirif.
Odyif. L ver. 238.-
By a litcni intf rprctation of the Hebrew idiotifm, however, it is
a common thing for the greater! abfurdities to be received by the
unwary for realities ; and not at all a wonder, that the mifunder-
fianding the text Ihuild give rife to what we are told of the giants
in the fable attempting to feale heaven, and of the expedition of
Cofigna and his companions, who had contrived ladders for that
end ; hoping, that lb they might make their nearer addrefles to
the queen of heaven. And thus even the fillieft of the Pagan tales
may be traced up to 'their original ; for there is generally fome
foundation for them in truth, either mi fundei flood or mifapplied.
,/''/:/. Le Gere's Comn^ntary ; Voif. Hilt. Graec. lib. 1. cap. 3. ;
and Eibliotheca Biblica ad locum.
yo) Waterland-'s Scripture vindicated, part r. (>) Le.
Gere's Differtatioii'.
and
IO.
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 295
and univerfal empire were not to be trufted in any mortal A. M.
hand ; that the firft kings would be far from being the be*ft r 7 s 7 , soc-
men ; but as they acquired a fuperiority by fraud and vio- \i4Jt ^
lence, fo they would not be backward to maintain it by op- from Gen.
preffion and cruelty: and therefore, to remedy fuch pu- *«• tover.
blic grievances, he determined with himfelf, that there (
fhould be a diveriity of governments in the world ; that if
the inhabitants of any place chanced to live under a tyran-
nical power, thofe that were no longer able to endure the
yoke might fly into other countries and dominions, (which
they could not do if the whole was one entire monarchy),
and there find a fhelter from oppreflion. And as he knew
how conducive the bad example of princes would be to-
wards a general corruption of manners, he therefore took
care to provide againft this malady, by appointing feveral
diftinct kingdoms and forms of government at one and the
fame time ; that if the infection of vice got'afcendency,
and prevailed in one place, virtue and godlinefs, and what-
ever is honourable and praife-worthy, might find a fafe re-
treat, and flourifh in another. Thus all the mifchiefs
which might poflibly arife from an univerfal monarchy,
and all the advantages that do daily accrue from feparate
and diftinct governments, were in the divine forefight and
confideration, when he put a furprifing flop to the build:
ing of thefe men, and their ambitious fchemes of empire
together.
For in what manner foever it was that he effected That this
this, f whether it was by difturbing the memories, or',cl"u,was
' ' ' ° . immediate-
pervertinglyhiswork.
f Since Mofes has no where acquainted us, (fays the learned
Heidegger, in his Hift patiiar. lib. 1. exercit. 21 r.) in what
manner the conrulion of languages was eflc'cfed, every one is left
to follow what opinion he likes heft, fo long as that opinion
contains nothing incongruous to the received rule of faith :
nay y it may not be inconvenient to produce feveral opinions
upon this iubjecr, to the intent that every one may embrace
that which feems to him moft conformable lo truth. And
therefore he inftances in the opinions of feveral learned men,
but in thofe more particularly of Julius Scaliger, who afcril
this event to a coufufion of notions which Got! mir;
lent among the builders ; and that of Ifaac Cafaubon, who will
needs have all the different languages now extant to be no
more than derivative's from the Hebrew. Saliger's words, as
Heidegger quotes them, are ihefe : " Sic enim aiunt (Hcbr?ei fci-
** licet) quo impii propofiti opus illud interciperetur atque prohibere-
3 F 2 « Mr,
ZO
296 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. perverting their imaginations ; by diverfifying their hearing,
A"t7'c'^V or new-organizing their tongues; by an immediate infu-
3,247, &c, fion of new languages, or a divifion of the old into fo
from Gen. many different dialects ; and again, whether thefe tongues,
r> or dialects of tongues, f were few or more ; whether
there
*' tur, factum a Deooptimo maximo, ut lapidem petenti alius caU
*' cera, alius fabulum, alius maltham, alius bitumen, alius aquam,
*' ferret. Fortafle etiam nou defuiffe arbitror, quilibi dictam pu-
" tarent contumcliam, atque propterea manum onferercnt, ubi
<l maxima intercedit occalio fubtilitatis ; nam li lapidem petenti
*' alius aliud, multi multa, diverfa omnia afferebant, videretur u-
*' nius foni modus, in varias fpecies deductus, diverfis mentibus
w fefe infinuafle. Una igitur prifca adhuc extaret lingua, varias
C ve:o lignificatus." The words of Cafaubcn are as follows:
11 Si in Babele lingua; in totum diverfa; factae funt, neceffario
<f Cbaldsei Aflyrji foktmSrus illas linguas retinui flint; atqui contra*
(' rium videmus accidifle. Eft enim veriffimum, linguas cameras
" eo marijfeftiora et magis cxprelfa originis Hebraicae veftigia fer-
f vaiTe, et nunc fervarc, quo propius ab antiqua et prima homi-
" fium fede abfuerunt. Nam proximqs quifque populus genti He-
c< braicse proxime ad illius linguam acceffit. Longinquitas vero
iC alienationem fqbinde majorem intulit. Clarum hoc, ex compa-
(* ratione iiilguarum, Syriacze, Chaldaicap, Arabics, Punkas, inc.
'* cumHebraica: clariflimum item, fi Graccam linguam diligen-
" ter fpecies. Graeci primi in Afia habitavunt : ir.de Ioncs, vfel,
f* ut i^fcuius vocat Hebraice, Javones, in Europam trajtcerunt $
f in antiquiflimis quibufque Giaecorum fcriptoribus multa propterea
" vocabula Hebraica, quas poftea vel defiernnt eife in ufu, vel
'* admodum funt mutata : obitrvamus ctiam Aliaticos Grsecos ma-
ft gis ISpxlc-ui/., quam Europaeos."
+ It is not to be thought, that there were as many feveral
dialects as there were men at Babel, fo that none of them under-
stood one another. This would not only have difperfed man-
kind, but utterly deftroyed them ; becaufe it is impollible to live
without fociety, or to have any feciety without imderrtanding
one another. It is likely therefore that every family had its
peculiar dialect, or rather, that fon;e common dialect or form
of fpeaking was given to thofe families whom God defigned to
make one colony in the following difperfion. Into how many
languages the people were divided, it is impofTibie to deter-
mine. The Hebrews fancy feventy, becaufe the dependents of
the fons of Noah, as they are enumerated in Scripture, are juft
Romany; die Greek fathers make them feventy-two, becaufe
the
Chap.
II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 297
there were only fo many originals at firft, (as many per- A. M.
haps as there were either tribes or heads of families), Antl'chrif.
and all the reft were no more than derivatives from them; iX47, <frc.
the operations of an almighty power are equally viable, fr°m Gen.
and the footfteps of divine wifdom apparent, in the very *^ t0 ver"
method of his difappointing thefe ambitious builders.
(s) He could, no doubt, with the fame facility, have
fent down fire from heaven to confume them ; but then,
that would have been but a momentary judgment, where-
of we Ihould have known nothing but what we read in the
dead letter of a book : whereas, by this means, the remem-
brance of God's interpoiition is preferved to all future ages,
and in every new language that we hear, we recognize the
miracle.
(t) It was equally the finger of God, we allow, whether Anc\ not a
the minds or the tongues of the workmen were confound- c ?n u. 10.n
cd ; but then, in that cafe, the miracle does not fo plainly but of '
and fo flagrantly appear, nor would it have had fo good an tongues,
effect upon the builders themfelves ; becaufe men may quar-
rel and break off lbciety without a miracle ; whereas they
cannot fpeak with new tongues by their own natural
ftrength and ingenuity.
Nor is the formation of a new language only more
miraculous, but to the imaginations of the perfons upon
whom it was wrought, incredibly more furprifing than any
difagreement in opinion, or any quarrel that might there-
the LXX verfion adds two more, (Elifa among the fons of
Japhet, and Canaan among the fonsof Shem), and the Latin fa-
thers follow them. But this is all conjecture, and what is built
upon a very weak foundation. For in many places, fo many
people concurred in the ufe of the fame fpeech, that of the feven-
ty fcarce thirty remain diilinft, as Bochart has obferved : and
among thefe, others have fuppofed, that the Hebrew, Chaldee,
and Arabic, in the eafl ; the Greek and Latin in the weft ; and
the Finnilh, Sclavonian, Hungarian, Cantabric, and the ancient
, Gaulith, in the north ; are generally reputed originals : befides
i'ome more that might be difcovered in Perfia, China, the Eaft-
Indies, the midland parts of Afric, and all America, if we had
but a fufficient knowledge of the hiftory of thrfe people. Vid.
Patrick's Commentary ; and Wottcn of the confufion of languages
at Babel.
(j) Heidegger's Hift. patriar. vol. 1. excrcit. 21. (/) Wot-
ten of the confufion of languages at Babel.
upon
298 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. M. upon enfue. And therefore I have always thought, that
1757. &c. this account of the confufion of tongues which God
Ant &c wrougftt at Babel, would fcarce have been told fo particu-
fromGen. larly, and reprefented as God's own act and deed, had it
only arifen from a quarrel among the builders, which ob-
liged .them to leave off their work, and fcatter themfelves
over the face of the earth. For when God is hei-e de-
fcribed as coming down in perfon to view their work,
ibme thing almoft as folemn as the creation, full as folemn
as the denunciation of the flood, when Noah was com-
manded to build the ark, is certainly intended by that ex-
prenion : and therefore, when Mofes acquaints us, that
there was but one language at that time, the circumftance
would be impertinent, if he did not intimate withal, that
very foon after there were to be more.
Iia. xix. 1 3. The prophet Ilaiah indeed, fpeaking of the converfion
exp aine . ^ fome Egyptians to the jewiih faith, tells us, that in
that day Jha/l Jive cities in the land of Egypt [peak the
language (or lip, as it is in the margin) of Canaan, and
fwear to the Lord of hofts. Speaking the language of
Canaan, {u) is thought by fome to mean no more than be-
ing of the fame religion with the Jews, who inhabited the
land of Canaan ; but why may it not be interpreted li-
terally, as it is in our translation ? Might not thefe five
cities particularly, to lhew the value and reverence that
they had for the religion of the Jews, learn their lan-
guage ; efpecially fince they would thereby be better
enabled to underftand the books of Mofes and the Pro-
phets, which were written in that tongue ? Bo not the
Mahometans, whatever they are, Turks, Tartars, Perfians,
Moguls, or Moors, all learn Arabic, becaufe Mahomet
wrote the Alcoran in that language ? "Why then fhouldwe
be offended at the literal fenfe of the words, when the
figurative is fo low and flat in companion of it ? (x) In
that day Egypt fjall be like a woman ; it (hall be afraid
and fear, becaufe of the fbaking of the hand of the Lord
of Hofts. (y) The Lord of hefts fiall be a terror unto
Egypt, and (z) in that day Jhall there be an altar to the
Lord in the midjl of the land of Egypt, i.e. they fhali be-
come profelytes to the law of Mofes ; and that they may
not miftake in underftanding the fenfe of the law, which
(;/) Le Gere's Commentary. (x) Ifa. xbi. 16. (j) Ver,
17. (2) Ver. 19.
they
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 299
they (lull then embrace, they fhall agree to learn the Ian- A- M-
guage in which it is written. This is an eafy and genuine Aw'chnftk
fenfe of the words : but, inftead of that, to fly to a forced i247) &c.
and abftrufe one, merely to evade the evidence off''?1" Gen.
a miracle, favours of vanity at leaft, if not of irrell- Xl' to vcr*
In fhoi't, all interpreters, both Jewifh and Chriftian,
underftood this confufion of Babel to be a confufion of
languages, not of opinions. They law the texts, if lite-
rally underftood, required it ; they obferved a lurprifing
variety of tongues, eifentially different from one another ;
and they knew that this was not in the leaft inconliftent
with the power of God. They did not queftion, but that
he who made the tongue could make it fpeak what, and
how he pleafed ; and they acquiefced (as all wife and ho-
neft interpreters fhould) in the literal explication, percei-
ving that nothing unworthy of God, or trifling, or impof-
fible in itfelf, refulted from it.
But to give this part of the objection a full and fads* That from
factory anfwer, we fhall look a little into the nature of1!1? timeoj
languages in general, and thereby endeavour to fhew, thatf]0n) t;iere
there are fome languages, when once eftablilhed, are not were all a«
fo fubject to variation as is pretended ; and that in the ages lo°S ^eve*
fubfequent to this extraordinary event, they could not, in' s ^n'
any natural way, undergo all the alterations we now per- daily de-
ceive in them, fuppofing them all defcended from one com- !acnt'
mon ftock.
(a) Now, in order to this, we muft obferve, that every
language confifts of two things, matter and form. The
matter of any language are the words wherein men who
fpeak the language exprefs their ideas ; and the feveral ways
whereby its nouns are declined, and verbs conjugated, art
its form.
The Latins and Greeks vary their nouns by termina-
tions ; as Vir, viri, viro, vinim, avfyam;, avfymru, .-.'.-
Qpuxv}, avOparov. We decline by the prepoiitions of, tot
from, the, in both numbers ; but the Hebrews have no
different terminations in the fame number, and only varj
thus, Iflj, man; ijhim, men; if jab, woman: ijhotb,
-Momcn. The reft arc varied by prepofitions infenarably af-
fixed to the words, as ba-ifj, the man ; le-ilh, to
man.; be-iflj, in the man : &c. which prepofitions, thus
(a) Wouen of ihc confufion oflanguagds at Babel.
ioined.
300 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. M. joined, make one word with the noun to which they are-
yS7'^- affixed, and are herein different from all thofe languages
7 frc[ which come from a Latin or Teutonic original,
from Gen. The weStern and northern people confider every transi-
tive verb, either actively or paffively, and then they have
done; as amo, in Latin, is I love ; amor, I am loved', and
Co in Greek, «ya.*a, dyara^ai : but in Hebrew, every word
has, or is fuppofed to have, feven conjugations ; in Chal-
dee and Syriac, fix ; and in Arabic, thirteen ; all differing
in their Significations.
The weftern languages abound with verbs that are com-
pounded with prepoiitions, which accompany them in all
their moods and tenles;' and therein vary their Significa-
tion : but in the eaftern there is no fuch thing ; for though
they have (in Arabic efpecially) many different Significa-
tions, fome literal, and fome figurative, yet ftill their
verbs, as well as nouns, are uncompounded.
In the Greek, both ancient and barbarous, in the Latin,
and the dialects arifing from it, and in all the branches of
what we call the old Teutonic, the poffeffive pronouns,
my, thy, his, yours, theirs, &c. make a distinct word from *
the noun to which they are joined, as nariip i^uv, pater no-
Jier, fader vor, our father, &c. But in all the oriental
tongues, the pronoun is joined to the end of the noun, in
fuch a manner as to make but one word. Thus ab, in
Hebrew, \s father; abi, my father ; abinu, our father. In
Chaldee, from the fame root, abouna is our father ; in Sy-
riac, abun ; in Arabic and Ethiopic, the fame.
Once more. All weftern languages mark the de-
gree of comparifon in their adjectives by proper termi-
nations, wife, wifer, wifeft ; fapiens, fapientior, fapientif-
fimus ; a-ofo;, c-opoTtpo;, crofara.fo; : But norre of the eaftern
tongues already mentioned have any thing in them like
this.
Thefe are fome of the marks and characters which
distinguish the eaftern from the weftern languages ; and
what is farther obfervable, theSe characters have none of
them difappeared, or Shifted from one to another, for neat
three thoufand years. They appear in every book of the
Old Teftament, from Mofes down to Malachi ; in the Chal-
dee paraphralts, in the Syriac verSions, in the Mifna, in
the Gemara, and in every other Rabbinical book, down to
the JewiSh writers of the prefent age : but on the other
hand, if we confider Homer's poems, which are the oldeft
monuments we have of the Greek language ; if we take
Theocritus
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 301
Theocritus for the Doric dialect ; Euripides, or Thucydi- A. M.
des, for the Attic j Herodotus, or Hippocrates, for the'757' ^f'
Ionic ; and Sappho for the jiEolic ; and fo defcend to the>l4l &.&
Greek, which is fpoken at this day, we lhall fee the gene- from Gen.
ral marks of weflern languages running through them all.1
Thefe idioms mew themfelves, at firil light, to be nothing
more than dialects manifeflly fpringing from the fame
common root, which never did, and (as far as we may
judge from the practice of above two thouiand years) ne-
ver will conjugate verbs, decline nouns, or compare adjec-
tives, like the Hebrew or Arabic. Thefe languages did
always compourrd verbs and nouns with prepofitions,
which efTentially alter the fenfe. Thefe languages had ne-
ver any pofTeflive pronouns affixed to their nouns, to de-
termine the perfon or perfons to whom of right they be-
long ; nor do they affix any fingle letter to their words,
which may be equivalent to conjunctions, and connedt the
fenfe of what goes before with what follows ; which any
perfon but tolerably initiated in the eaflern languages mufl
know to be their properties.
And indeed, if we caft but our eye a little forward in- That tncr?
to the facred hiftory, it will not be long before we rnay;nutJielfir^
perceive fome inftances of this difference between Ian- ages, be all
guages. For when Jacob and Laban made a covenant to-t!.iat altera-
gether, they erected an heap of ftones, on which they eat, "y^*" ^[
and Laban called it Jegar-fahadutha, but Jacob Gal-ed, is pretend-
which words fignify (thofe in Chaldee, which are Laban's,ed.
and the other in Hebrew, which are Jacob's) an heap of
ivitneflh-; and in like manner, Pharaoh calls Jofeph Tfoph-
nath-Paaneahb, which words are neither Hebrew nor Chal-
dee. So that here we fee three diftincTfc dialects formed in
Jacob's time ; and yet we may obferve, that the world was
then thin, commerce narrow, and conquefls few; fo that
the people were conftrained to converfe with thofe of their
own tribe, and confequently could keep their dialect far
more entire than it is poffible for any nation to do now,
when commerce, conquefls, and colonies planted in re-
gions already peopled with nations that fpeak diftinct lan-
guages, may be fuppofed to bring in a deluge of new words,
and make innumerable changes. But nations feldom trade
much abroad, or make invafions upon their neighbours, or
fend forth plantations into remote countries, until they arc
pretty well flocked at home, which could hardly be the
cafe of any one country for feveral ages after the dif-
j«erfion.
Vol. I. 3 G It
302 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book 11.
A. M. It is a miftaken notion which fome have imbibed^ that
a75 J'J?c-'r every little thing, be it but the change of air, or difference
Ant. Chnf. - /. . &' , n , ne- n_ i • •
=.*47, &c. °* cumate, (which at molt can but afreet the pronunciation
from Gen. of fome letters or fyllables), can make a diverfity in lan-
xi. to ver guages. Small and infenfible alterations, which perhaps
t ' _ , will appear in an age or two, will undoubtedly happen ;
but unlefs people converfe much with ftrangers, their lan-
guage will fubfift, as to its conftituent form, the fame for
many generations.
The R.oman language, for inftance, was brought to a
conuderable perfection before Plautus's time ; and though
now and then fome obfolete words may appear in his wri-
tings, yet any man that underftands Latin may read the
books that were written in it, from Plautus down to Theo-
doric the Goth, which was near feven hundred years ; and
had not the barbarous nations broken into Italy, it might
have been an 'intelligible language for feveral ages more.
And in like manner, we may fay, that had not the Turks,
when they over-ran Greece, brought darknefs and igno-
rance along with them, the Greek tongue might have con-
tinued even to this day, fince it is manifeft, from Homer's
poems, and Euftathius's commentaries upon them, that it
iu baited for above two thoufand years, without any conn-
cjerable alteration ; for the fpace of time between the poet
and his commentator was no lefs.
And that And if the languages which we are acquainted with
t ^re arc remained fo long unchanged to any great degree in times
nal Ian- or more commerce ana action than wnat could be lub-
guages in icquent upon the difperhon, there is reafon to believe, that
thaiTi0rld (tnougn ic be difficult to define the number of them), there
Bwgiqedi are many more original languages in the world than fome
men imagine. For if we confider their great antiquity,
their mutual agreement in the fundamentals (which we
have defenbed) can be no ai*gument that any one of them
is derived from the reft ; fince it is natural to fuppofe, that
when God confounded the fpeeeh of the builders of Babel,
he made the dialects of thofe people who were to live
near one another, fo far to agree, that they might, with
lefs difficulty, and in a fhorter fpace of time, mutually
u-nderftand each other, and fo more eafily maintain an inter-
com fe together. For though their afTociation (coniiderhlg the
ends that engaged them in it) was certainly culpable, yet
perhaps it might not deferve fo fevere a punifhment as an
Witire reparation of every tribe among them from their
neareft
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 303
neareft kindred, with whom they had hitherto fpent all a. m.
their time. »757, &c;
To fum up the force of this argument in a few words. "t- ?
If we confider the time fince the building of the tower of lroin'Gea.
Babel, not yet 4000 years, and the great variety of Ian- xi. to ver.
guages that are at prefent in the world ; if we coniider how l0,
entirely different fome are to Others, fo that no art of ety- Z'^~ v~;
mology can reduce them to the leaft likenefs or confotmi-iationofthe
ty ; and yet, in thofe early days, when the world was lefswk°le ai-
peopled, and navigation and commerce not fo much mind- Sument-
ed, there could not be that quick progreffion of languages ;
and if we examine the alterations which fuch languages as
we are acquainted with have made in two or three thou-
fand years pad, where colonies of different people have not
been imported, we fhall find the difference between lan-
guage and language to be fo very great, and the alteration
of the fame language, in a considerable tract of time, to be
fo very fmall, that we fhall be at a lofs to conceive, whence
fo many and fo various languages could have proceeded,
unlefs we take in the account of Mofes, which unriddles
the whole difficulty, and juftly afcribes them to the fame
almighty power which taught our firft parents to fpeak one
tongue in the beginning, and, in after-ages, infpired the a-
poftles of Jefus Chrift with the gift of many.
DISSERTATION II.
Of the tower of Babel.
HAT there really was fuch a building as the tower That there-
of Babel, erected fome ages after the recovery of really was
the earth from the deluge, is evident from the concurrent l^,1,^
teftimony of feveral Heathen writers. For when (befides the towtei
the particular defcription which (b) Herodotus, the father of 3it»eJ.
of the Greek hiftorians, gives us of it) v/e find Abydenv.s
(as he is (c) quoted by Eufebius) telling us, " That the firft
" race of men, big with a fond conceit of the bulk and
" ftrength of their bodies, built, in the place where Baby -
" Ion now ftands, a tower of fo prodigious an height,
" that it feemed to touch the Ikies, but that the winds and
" the gods overthrew the mighty ftructure upon their
" heads j" when we find Eupolemus (as he is (d) cited
(b) Lib. r. c. 18 r. (c) Prscparat. evan». !. 9. c. 14.
(</) Alex. Polyhift. apud Eafeb. Pracp. cVaii- 1. 9. c. i8.
3 G * ty
304 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II,
A. M. by Alexander Polyhiftor) leaving it upon record, " That
'aS7'cu t " t^ie C1*Y °^ Babylon was fu"ft built by giants, who efcaped
az47 &c.' " from tne flood ; that thefe giants built the molt famous
from Gen. " tower in all hiftory ; and that this tower was daihed to
xf. to ver. << pieces by the almighty power of God, and the giants dif-
:' perfed, and fcattered over the face of the whole earth ;"
and laftly, when (e) we find Jofephus mentioning it as a
received doctrine among the Sibyls, " That at a certain
" time, when the whole world fpake all one language, the
" people of thofe days gathered together, and raifed a
" mighty tower, which they carried up to fo extravagant
" an height, that it looked as if they had propofed to icale
'* heaven from the top of it *, but that the gods let the
" winds loofe upon it, which, with a violent blaft, beat it
" down to the ground, and at the fame time ftruck the
" builders with an utter forgetfulnefs of their native tongue,
'•' and fubftituted new and unknown languages in the room
V of it :" When we find thefe, and feveral other authors,
I fay, that might be produced, bearing teftimony to Mo-
lb in moft of the material circumitances attending the
building of this tower, we cannot but conclude, that the
reprefentation which he gives us of the whole tranfaction
is agreeable to truth.
The fhort is, all the remains now extant of the moft an-
cient Heathen hiftorians (except Sanchoniatho) concur in
confirming the Mofaic account of this matter ; and the fum
. of their teftimonies is,- ■ -(/) That a huge tower was built
by gigantic men at Babylon; that there was then but one
language among mankind ; that the attempt was ofFenfive
to the gods ; and that therefore they demolifhed the tower,
overwhelmed the workmen, divided their language, and
difperfed them over the face of the whole earth.
'Tbatinwas There is cne circumftance indeed wherein we find
not blown thefe ancient hiftorians differing with Mofes, and that is, in
deihoved z^rmm§ tuat die tower was demolifhed by the anger of
God, and by the violence of the winds ; but as it feems
more cenfiftent with the divine wifdom (for the admonition
of pofterity) to have inch a monument of mens folly and
ambition for fome time (landing; fo we may obferve,
that (in confirmation of cur facred penman, who fpeaks of
it as a thing exifting in his time) Herodotus, the Greek
(e) Antiq. I. t. c. 5. (/) Fid. Jofephus's Antiq. I. i.e. $!
Eufcbiits's Praspar. evang. 1. 9. c. J 4. <tc, j and Hueiius's
Q^eft. AIneran. 1. 2. p. 189.
hiftorkn,
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 305
hiftorian, tells us exprefsly, that he himfelf actually faw it, A. M.
as it was repaired by Belus, or fome of his fucceflbrs ; AnV'chrif.
Pliny, the Latin hiftorian, that it was mot deftroyed in faisaa47> ^/
days ; and fome modern travellers, (whom by and by we from Gen.
fhall have occafion to quote), that there are fome vifible re-X1, to vcr
mains of it extant even now. And therefore the fancy of,
its being beat down with the winds is taken up, in pure
conformity * to fome Perfian tales, recorded of Nimrod,
whom thefe hiftorians fuppofe to be the firft projector of it.
It cannot be denied indeed, but that the generality of Y^° ™"e
interpreters, meeting with the expreffion of (g) the chXt- ^^
dren of men, whereby they underftand bad men and infi-
dels, as oppofed to the children of God, which ufually de-
note the good and the faithful, are apt to imagine, that
none of the family of Shem, which retained (as they fay)
the true worfhip and religion, were engaged in the work,
but fome of the worfer fort of people only, who had de-
generated from the piety of their, anceftors : but by the
* The author of the book called Maletn tells us this flory?
• That when Nimrod faw that the fire into which he caul'ed
Abraham to be caft, for not fubmitting to the worshipping of
idols, did him no damage, he refolved to afcend into heaven,
that he might fee that great God whom Abraham revealed to j
him. In vain did his courtiers endeavour to divert him from this
defign : he was refolved to accomplifh it ; and therefore gave
orders for the building of a tower that might be as high as
poflible. They worked upon it for three years together : and
when he went up to the top, he was much furprifed to fee him*
, felf as far from heaven, as when he was upon the ground ; but
his confufion was much increafed, when they came to inform
him, the next morning, that his tower was fallen, and dafhed
in pieces. He commanded them then, that another fhould be
built, which might be higher and ftronger than the former : but
when this met with the fame fate, and he ftill continued an ob-
ftinatc perfecuter of thofe who vvorfhipped the true God, God
took from him the greatcft part of his fubje&s, by the divifioa
and confufion of their tongues, and thofe, who ftill adhered to
him, he killed by a cloud of flics, which he fent amongft them j
Calmeii Dictionary on the word Nimrod. The poets, in like
manner, hating corrupted the tradition of this event with fictions
of their own, do conitantly bring in Jupiter defeating the attempts
of the Titans :
ft
Vcrti
frumina de cccli jaculatus Jupiter arce,
Vcrtit in authores pond era vafia fuos, -be. Ovid.
(g) Gen. xi. 5.
:bildren
306 The Kiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A- RJ* children of men in that place, it is evident, that we are to
AnJchrif. underftand all mankind, becaufe, in the initial words of
the chapter, they are called (h) the whole earth ; nor can
we well conceive how, in fo fhort a time, after that a-
wakening judgment of the deluge, the major part of man-
ikind, even while Noah and his fons were ftill alive, fhould
be fo far corrupted in their principles, as to deferve the o-
dious character of unbelievers.
notNunrod ^ Jofephus indeed, and fome other authors, are clearly
of opinion, that Nimrod, a defcendent from the impious
Ham, was the great abettor of this defign, and the ring-
leader of thofe who combined in the execution of it. But
though the undertaking feems to agree very well with the
notion which the Scripture gives us of that ambitious prince;
yet, befides that, (k) others extremely well verfed in all
Jewilh antiquities, have made it appear, that Nimrod was
either very young at the time, or even not yet born, when
the project of building the tower and city was firft formed,
there is reafon to believe (even fuppofing him then alive,
and in great power and authority among his people) that he
was not in any tolerable condition to undertake fo great a
work.
The account which Mofes gives us of him is,* ■ That
he (/) began to be a mighty one in the earth; which the beft
writers explain, by his being the firft who laid the foun-
dation of regal power among mankind : but it is fcarce ima-
ginable, how an empire, able to effecT: fuch a work, could
be entirely acquired, and fo thoroughly eftablifhed, by one
and the fame perfon, as to allow leifure for amufements
of fuch infinite toil and trouble.
(m) Great and mighty empires isdeed have feemingly
been acquired by fingle perfons ; but when we come to ex-
amine into the true original of them, we fhall find, that
they began upon the foundations of kingdoms already at-
tained by their anceftors, and eftablifhed by the care and
wifdom of many fucceffive rulers for feveral generations,
and after a long exercife of their people in arts and arms,
which gave them a lingular advantage over other nations
that they conquered. In this manner grew the empires of
Cyrus, Alexander, and all the great conquei-ors in the
world : nor can we, in all the records of hiftory, find one
(h) Ver. i. (/) Antiq. 1. t. c. 5. (k) Bochart's Pha-
leg. I. 1. c. 10. (/) Gen. x. 8. [tn) Revelation Exa-
mined, yoI. a. differ:. 3.
large
Giap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 307
large dominion, from the very foundation of the world, A. M.
that was ever ere&ed and eft^blimed by one private perfon. A^Jchrif!
And therefore we have abundant reafon to infer, that Nim-»a47, ^c.
rod, though confefledly the beginner of fovereign authori- from Gen.
ty, could, at this time, have no great kingdom under his ™' to ver*
command. i_r r^j
But admitting his kingdom to be larger than this fup-
pofition ; yet, from that day to this, we can meet with no
works of this kind attempted, but from a fulnefs of
wealth, and wantonnefs of power, and after peace, luxu-
ry, and long leifure had introduced and eftablifhed arts :
fo that nothing can be more abfurd, than to attribute fuch
a prodigious work to the power and vanity of one man, in
the infancy both of arts and empire, and when we can
fcarce fuppofe, that there was any fuch thing as artificial
wealth in the world.
Since then this building was undoubtedly very ancient, Though he
as ancient as the Scripture makes it, and yet could not bemi^dtVt!["
effected by any feparate fociety, in the period affigned for it, there,
the only probable opinion is, that it was (as we faid before)
undertook and executed by the united labours of all the
people that were then on the face of the earth. It is not
unlikely, however, that after the difperfion of the people,
and their living the place unfinifhed, (n) Nimrod and his
fubjects, coming out of Arabia, or fome other neighbour-
ing country, might, after their fright was over, fettle at
Babel, and there building the city of Babylon, and repair-
ing the tower, mak&.it the metropolis (as afterwards it was)
of all the Afiyrian empire.
To this purpofe, there is a very remarkable pafTagc
(c) in Diodorus Siculus, where he tells us ; " That on
1 ' the walls of one of the Babylonian palaces was pourtrayed
" a general hunting of all forts of wild beafts, with the
" figure of a woman on horfe-back piercing a leopard,
V and a man fighting with a lion ; and that on the walls
f of the other palace were armies in battalia, and hunt-
" ings of feveral kinds." Now of this Nimrod, the facred
hiftorian informs us, that he was a great and remarkable
hunter, fo as to pafs into a proverb ; and this occupation
he might the rather purfue, as the beft means of training up
his companions to exploits of war, and of making himfelf
popular, by the glory he gained, and the public good he
did, in deftroying thofe wild beafts, which at that time
(«) Bocbm's I'haleg. 1, 1, c. 10. («) Lib. 1.
infeftei
308 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, BookK.
A. M. infefted the world. And as this was a part of his charac-
»7S7, &c. ter, the moft rational account that we can giv,e of thefe
*' " ' ornaments on the Babylonian palaces, is, that they were
from'Gen. fet up by fome of Nimrod's defcendents, in their anceftor's
si. to vcr. imperial city, in memory of the great founder of their fa-
*°" mily, and pf an empire which afterwards grew fo famous.
For^vhat (P) Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, will needs
purpofes it have it, that Nimrod was the firft author of the religion
was built, of the Magians, the worfhippers of fire : and from hence,
very probably, (q) a late archbifhop of our own has
thought, that this tower of Babel (whofe form was pyra-
midal, as he fays, and fo refembling fire, whofe flame
afcends in a conic fhape) was a monument defigned for the
honour of the fun, as the moft probable caufe of drying up
the waters of the flood. For, " though the fun," fays he,
f* was not merely a god of the hills, yet the heathens
" thought it fuitable to his advanced ftation, to worfhip him
" Upon afcents, either natural, or where the country
" was flat, artificial, that they might approach, as near as
• " poflibly they could, the deity [they adored," This cer-
tainly accounts for God's difpleafure againft the builders,
and why he was concerned to defeat their undertaking ; but
as there is no foundation for this conje&ure in Scripture,
and the date of this kind of idolatry was not perhaps fo ear-
ly as is pretended, the two ends which Mofes declares
the builders had in view, in forming their project, will be
motives fufficient for their undertaking it.
For if we confider that they were now in the midft of
a vaft plain, undiftinguifhed by roads, buildings, or boun-
daries of any kind, except rivers ; that the provifion of pa-
ft'ure, and other necefTaries, obliged them to feparate ; and
that, when they were feparated, there was a neceflity of
fome land-mark to bring them together again upon occa-
iion, otherwife all communication, and with it, all the
pleafures of life muft be cut off; we can hardly imagine
any thing more natural and fit for this purpofe, than the
erection of a tower, large and lofty enough to be feen at
great diftances, and confequently fufficient to guide them
from aM quarters of that immenfe region ; and when they
had occafion to correfpond, or come together, nothing cer-
tainly could be more proper, than the contiguous buildings
(/>) Calmer:- Dictionary en the word Nimrod. (q) Tenifon,
»f icolarry.
Of
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 309
of a city, for their reception, and convenient commnnica- A.M.
tion. '75 7, <Srf.
If we confider likewife, that all the pride and magnifi- A^lt" c£."f'
cence of their anceftors were now defaced, and utterly de-fr0m' Gcii.
ftroyed by the deluge, without the leaft remains, or me-ji- to ver.
morial of their grandeur ; that confequently the earth was l(
a clear ftage, whereon to erect new and unrivaled monu-
ments of glory and renown to themfelves ; and that at this
juncture, they wanted neither art nor abilities, neither
numbers nor materials, to make themfelves matters of what
their vanity projected ; we may reafonably fuppofe, that
the affectation of renown was another motive to their un-
dertaking ; fince it is very well known, that this is the very
principle which has all along governed the whole race of
mankind, in all the works and monuments of magnifi-
cence, the maufoleums, pillars, palaces, pyramids, and
whatever has been erected of any pompous kind, from the
foundation of the world to this very day. So that, taking
their refolution under the united light of thefe two mo-
tives, the reafoning of the builders will run thus : " Wc
** are here in a vaft plain : f our difpevfion is inevitable :
" our increafe, and the necefTaries of life demand it. We
" are ftrong and happy, when united ; but when divided,
" we fhall be weak and wretched. Let us then contrive
" fome means of union and friendly fociety, which may, at
" the fame time, perpetuate our fame and memory. And
" what means fo proper for thefe purpofes, as a magnificent
" city, and a mighty tower, whofe top may touch the
" fkies ? The " tower will be a land-mark to us, through
" the whole extent of this plain, and a centre of unity,
" to prevent our being difperfed ; and the city, which may
" prove the metropolis of the whole earth, will, at all
" times, afford us a commodious habitation. Since then
" we need fear no diffolution of our works by any future
" deluge, let us erect fomething that may immortalize
" our names, and outvie the labours of our antediluvian
" fathers." And that this feems to have been the reafon-
f Here they fpeak as if they feared a difperfion ; but it is hard
to tell for what caufe, unlefs it was this : — — That Noah having
projected a divifion of the earth among his poftcrity, (for it was a
deliberate bufinefs, as we noted before), the people had no mind
to fubmir to it ; and therefore built a fortrefs to defend themfelves in
their refutation of not yielding to his defign; but what they dreaded,
they brought npon themfelves by their own vain attempt to avoid it.
Yid. Patrick's Comment, and Ufherad A.M. 1757.
Vol. t. x h ;nnr
sio The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. ing of their minds, will further appear, if we come now
i7S7, <o-c. to take a fhort iurvey of the dimeniious of the building,
Canf. acc01, jjn„ t0 t}ie account which the bed hiftorians have gi-
4247, <LTC. <?. , O
from Gen. ven US of it.
xi. to vtr. It is the opinion of the learned (r) Bochart, that what*
ever we read of the tower, inclofed in the temple of Be»
Thedirncn-,lus' may vei7 Pr°perty he applied to the tower of Babel;
fions of the becaufe, upon due fearch and examination, he conceives
tower. them to be one and the fame ftructure. Now, of this tow-
er (s) Herodotus tells us, that it was a fquare of a furlong
on each fide, i. e. half a mile in the whole circumference,
whofe height, being equal to its bafis, was divided into eight
towers, built one upon another ; but what made it look
as divided into eight towers, was very probably the man-
ner of its afcent. The pajjage to go up it, continues our
author, -was a circular, or "winding way, carried round the
outjide of the building to its highefi point : (t) from whence
it feems mod likely, that the whole afcent was, by the
benching-in, drawn in a flopping line from the bottom to
the top, eight times round it, which would make the ap-
pearance of eight towers one above another. This way
was fo exceeding broad, that it afforded fpace for horfes and
carts, and other means of carriage to meet and turn ; and
the towers, which looked like lb many ftories upon one
another, were each of them feventy-five foot high, in which
were many (lately rooms, with arched roofs, fupported by
pillars, which were made parts of the temple, alter the
vtower became confecrated to that idolatrous ufe ; and, on
the uppermoft of the towers, which was held more facred,
and where their rnoft folemn devotions were performed,
there was an obfervatory, by the benefit of which it wr.s,
that the Babylonians advanced their fkill in aftronomy be-
yond all other nations.
Some authors, -j- following a miftake in the Latin ver-
sion of Herodotus, wherein the loweft of thefe towers is
laid
(r) Vid. Phaleg. part i.l. 1. c. 9. (.') Lib. 1. (/) Pri-
deaux's Connection, part 1 .
+ The words of Herodotus arc : 'Ev /tia-o <Tf t« hpu irvpyos ripio?
yiY.oSjuKTai, raAa £ to fj.~iyt.oc:, y, to svpo;' x, IttI t3tg> t£ xvpya,
kMoz Trvpyo; nriQiQw.c, £ iripo$ /x«A.a ittI tStv, f/.i^pic « okIu Tfiipyav'
Wow/ tho' it be allowed, that the word fiVMes may fignify height,
£S well as lingthy yet it is much better to take Herodotus in the
latter ftnfehere; otherwife the tower (if every ftory anfwers
bvrelt) \v;H rife to a prodigious height, though nothing near
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 3 1 1
faiil to be a furlong thick, and a furlong high, will have a. M.
each of the other towers to be of a proportionate height, nsy, &c.
which amounts to a mile in the whole : but the Greek of ^,ut'„C1"1r
Herodotus (which is the genuine text of that author,) fays fvoni' Gen.
no fuch thing, but only, that it was a furlong long, and a xi. to ver.
furlong broad, without mentioning any thing of its height ; IC
and (it) Strabo, in his defcription of it, (calling it a pyra-
mid, becaufe of its decreaiing, or benching-in at every
tower), fays of the whole, that it was a furlong high, and
a furlong on every fide : for to reckon every tower a fur-
long high, would make the thing incredible, even though *>
the authority of both thefe hiftorians were for, as they are
againft it. Taking it only as it is defcribed by Strabo,. ft
was prodigious enough ; iince, according to his dimeniions
only, without adding any farther, it was one of the mot:
wonderful works in the world, and much exceeded the
greateft of the pyramids of Egypt.
In this condition continued the tower of Babel, or the Its fubfe-
temple of Belus, until the time of Nebuchadnezzar; butllueut*11^
he enlarged it by vaft buildings, which were erected round ' '
it, in a fquare of two furlongs on every iidc, or a mile in
circumference ; and inclofed the whole with a wall of two
miles and a half in comp ifs, in which were feveral gates lead-
ing to the temple, all of folid brafs, which very probably were
made of the brazen fea, the brazen pillars, and ,ihe other
brazen venels, which were carried to Babylon from the
temple of Jerufalem : for fo we are told, that all the fa-
cred vefTels, which Nebuchadnezzar carried from thence, he
put (x) into the houfe of his god in Babylon, i. e. into the
houfe or tempel of Bel, (for \ that was the name of the
great gcdofthe Babylonians), furrcunding it with the pomp
to what jerom (1 j. Comment, in Efaiam) affirms, from the te-
fumony of cye-wimeflcs, as he fays, who examined, the remains
of it very carefully, viz. that it was no lefs than four miles nigh ;
Univerf. h'tji. I. I. c. 2>
(u) Lib. 16. (x) 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7. Dan. i. 2.
■f Bel is fuppofed to have been the fame with Nimrod, and to
have been called Bet from his dominion, and Nimrod from his re-
bellion ; for Bel, or Baa! (which is the fame) figniiies Lo^d, and
Nimrod, Rebel, in the jewiih and Chaldean language; the far-
mer was his Babylonifh name, by reafon of his empire in that
place ; and the latter his Scripture name, by reafon of his re-
bellion, in revolting from God, to folio- ■• his own wicked de>
fignsj Pride'aux's Cornell ion f part 1. /. 2.
3 It 2 of
3i2 The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. M. of thcfe additional buildings, and adorning it with the fpoils
*7l7>?^f- of the temple of Jerufalem. This tower did not fubfift
ai47 &e. ' mucn above an hundred years, when Xerxes, coming from
from Gen. his Grecian expedition, wherein he had fuffered a vaft lofs
xi. to ver. of men and money, out of pretence of religion, ( f as be-
,ing himfelf a Magian, and confequently detefting the
worfhip of God by images), (y) but in reality with a
defign to repair the damages he had fuftained, demolished
it, and laid it all in rubbifh ; having firft plundered it of all
its immenfe riches, among which were feveral images, or
flames of marly gold, and (z) one particularly of forty
feet high, which very probably was f that which Nebu-
chadnezzar (a) confecrated in the plains of Dura.
Thus
j> The two great fects of religion among the Perfians, were
the Magians and Sabians. The Sabians worfhipped God through
fenfible images, or rather worfhipped the images themfelves.
The Babylonians were the firft founders of this feci: ; for they
firft brought in the worfhip of the planets, and afterwards that
ofiirnges, and from thence propagated it to all other nations
where it prevailed. The Magians, on the contrary, worfhipped no
images of any kind, but God only, together with two Subordi-
nate principles, the one, the author and director of all good,
and the other, the author and director of all evil. Thefe two
fects always had a mortal enmity to each other ; and therefore it
is no wonder, that Xerxes, who had always the Archimagus at-
tending him in his expeditions, with feveral other inferior Ma-
gi, in the capacity of his chaplains, mould by them be prevailed
on to take Babylon in his way to Sula, in order to deftroy all the
idolatrous temples there.
(j) Prideaux's Connection, part I. (z) Diodorus Siculus, 1. 2.
-f- Nebuchadnezzar's golden image is laid indeed in Scripture
to have been 6o cubits, /. e. ninety foot high, but diat muft
be underftood of the image and ' pedcftal all together : for that
image being faid to have been but fix cubits broad or thick, it
js impoffible that the image could have been fixty cubits high ;
lor that makes its height to be ten times its breadth or thick-
nefs, which exceeds all the proportions of a man, forafmuch as
no man's height is above fix times his thicknefs, meafuring'-
the flcndereft man living at the waift But where the breadth
of this image was meafured, it is not faid : perhaps it was from
fhoulder to moulder, and then the proportion of fix cubits
breadth will bring down the height exactly to the meafure
which Diodorus has mentioned. For the ufual height of a man
being fair and an half of his breadth between the moulders, '
it
{a) Dan. hi. i.
Chap. II. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 313
Thus fell this great monument of antiquity, and was ne- A. M.
ver repaired any more : For though Alexander, at his re- '?S7, *fr
turn to Babylon, after his Indian expedition, exprelTed his " ^ *
intentions of rebuilding it, and accordingly fet ten thou- from Gen.
fand men on work to rid the place of its rubbifh ; yet, be- xi- t0 ver-
fore they had made any progrefs therein, that great con-
queror died on a hidden, and has ever lince left both the
city and tower lb far defaced, that the very people of the
country are at a lofs to tell where their ancient fituation
was. Since foma late travellers however have, in their o-
pinions, found out the true ruins and remains of this once
renowned ftru&ure, we fhall not be averfe to gratify our
reader's curiofity (I?) with an account of what one of the
beft authority among them has thought fit to communicate
to the public.
" In the middle of a vaft and level plain, (fays be), a- Jhe Pre*
" bout a quarter of a league from the Euphrates, (which mains 0f iz.
" in that place runs weftward), appears an heap of ruined
" buildings, like a huge mountain, the materials of which
" are fo confounded together, that one knows not what to
" make of it. Its figure is fquare, and rifes in form of a
" pyramid, with four fronts, which anfwer to the four
" quarters of the compafs, but it feems longer from north
" to fouth than from eaft to weft, and is (as far as I could
" judge by my pacing it) a large quarter of a league. Its
" fituation and form correfpond with that pyramid which
" Strabo calls the tower of Bolus ,- but even in his time it
" had nothing remaining of the ftairs, and other orna-
" ments mentioned by Herodotus, for the greateft part of
" it was ruined by Xerxes and Alexander, who defigned
" to have reftored it to its former luftre, but was prevent-
" ed by death.
it muff, according to this proportion, have been twenty-feven cu-
bits high, which is forty foot and an half. Nor mult it be for-
got what Diodorus further tells us, viz. Tiiat this image contain-
ed a thoufand Babylouifh talents of gold, which, upon a moderate
computation, amounts to three millions and an half of our money.
But now, if we advance the height of the ftatae to ninety foo:
without the pedefhl, it will incrcale the value to a fum incredible ;
and therefore it is necelTary to take the pcdeftal likewile into the
height mentioned by Daniel ; Prideaux's Connection t part i. /. 2.
{}) Vid. Pietro della Valle, part 2. 1. 17.
" There
3 1 4 The Hiflory of the B I B L E, Book II .
A. M. " There appear no marks of ruins round the compafs
*7S7, &c- " of this rude mafs, to make one believe that fo great a
t*\ £r' " city as Babylon ever flood here. All that one can dif-
1147, «tt. * ; 1 • /■ r • •
from Gen. cover, within 50 or 60 paces of it, is only the remains
xi. to ver. " here and there of fome foundations of buildings' ; and
the country round about it is fo flat and level, that one
can hardly conceive it fhould be chofen for the fituation
" of fo noble a city, or that there ever were any confider-
" able ftructures on it. But considering withal, that it is
" now^at leafl: four thoufand years flnce that city was built,
" and that in the time of Diodorus Siculus, as he tells us,
" it was almoft reduced to nothing, I, for my part, am
" aftonifhed that there appears fo much as there does.
• " The height of this mountain of ruins is not in every
" part equal, but exceeds the higheft palace in Naples.
" It i^amifhapen mafs, wherein there is no appearance of
" regularity. In fome places k rifes in points, is craggy,
" and inacceffible ; in others it is frnooth, and of eafy a-
" fcent. ---Whether ever there were fteps to afcend it, or
" doors to enter into it, it is impofiible at prefent to dii-
" cover : and from hence one may ealily judge, that the
" flairs ran winding about on the outfide, and that, being
" the lefs folid parts, they were the fooneft demolifhed, fo
" that there is not the leafl flgn to be feen of them now.
" In the inflde of it there are fome grottos, but fo
*' ruined, that one can make nothing of them ; and it is
" much to be doubted, with regard to fome of them, whe-
" ther they were built at the fame time with the work,
•* or made fince by the peafants for fhelter, which laft;
" feems to be more likely. It is evident from thefe ruins,
" however, that the tower of Nimrod (fo our author calls
" it) was built with great and thick bricks, as I carefully
tl obferved, cauflng holes to be dug in feveral places for
" that purpofe ; but they do not appear to have been
lt burnt, but only dried in the fun, which is extremely hot
*' in thofe parts.
" In laying thefe bricks, neither lime nor fand was
" made ufe of, but only earth tempered and petrified ; and
" in thofe parts which made the floors, there had been
" mingled with the earth (which ferved inftead of lime)
u bruifed reeds or hard ftraws, fuch as large mats are
" made of, to ftrengthen the wprk. In feveral other places,
" efpecially where the ftrongefl buttrefies were to be, there
" were, at due diftances, ether bricks of the fame iize,
" but more folic!, '^nd burnt in kilns, and fet in good lime,
u or
Chap. IL from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 315
" or bitumen, but the greater number were fuch as were A- M-
" dried in the fun." AnJ'chrif.
This is the mod of what this fedulous traveller could Jl47, &c.
difcover ; and yet, upon the foot of thefe remarks, he fr,om Gen-
makes no doubt to declare, " That this ruin was the an- *'o to ver'
" cient Babel, or the tower of Nimrod, (as he calls it) : — v- j
" for belides the evidence of its iituatiou, it is lb acknow-
u ledged to be, and fo 'called by the inhabitants of the
" country to this very day :" notwithstanding lbme others
'are of a contrary opinion, viz,, (c) That this, and lbme
other ruins not far diftant from it, are not the remains of
the original tower, but rather fome later ftructures of the
Arabs.
We cannot difmifs this fubject. however, without making refl„ctioil
fome reflections on the vanity and traniitorinefs of all fub- hereupon.
lunary things, as well as the veracity of all God's predic-
tions ; lince that goodly city, which was once the pride of
all Alia, and the deiigned metropolis of the whole univerfe,
according to the words (d) of the prophets, is jallen, is
fallen low, very low, and become a dwelling-place for dra-
gons, an aftonifhment, and an hifjing without an inhabitant ;
and that ftately tower, which once reared its head on high,
and feemed to menace the ftars, is brought doivn to the
ground, even to the dujl ; infomuch, that the place of it is
to be feen no more ; or, if by chance found out by fome
inquifitive traveller, the whole is now become only a con-
fufed heap of rubbiJh, according to the word of God, by
the fame prophet ; (e) I will roll thee down from the rocks,
and make thee as a burnt mountain, and they Jhall not take
of thee a Jlone for a corner, nor a f one for foundations, but
thoufhalt be an everlajling deflation, faith the Lord.
{c) Univerf. hift. 1. I. c. 2. (d) Ifa. xxi. 9. ; and Jer. li. 37.
(e) Jer. li. 25. 26.
A. M,
CHAP. III. i!?a3c
1245, &C.
Of the Difpcrfton, andfrrfl Settlement of the Nations. *°™ G™-
end; and
„, fromch. 11.
The History, vei. 1 to
the end.
N what manner the children of Noah were admitted to « v— — i
the polTeflion of the feveral countries they afterwardsThe fettle-
came to inhabit, the lacred hiftorian\M's not informed us ; ^"''^/f^
but^het.0
3 1 6 The Hiftory of the B T B L E, Book II.
A. M. but this we may depend on, that (a) this great divifion of
1759, ^f- the earth was not the refult of chance, but of mature de-
ns, u. iJt)ei.ation. nOL a confufed, irregular difperfion, wherein
from .Ten. every one went where he pleafed, and fettled himfelf where
x. co the he liked Deft, out a proper alignment of fuch and fuch
end ; and p[aces for everv diviiion and fubdivifion of each nation and
ver. ,0. to family to dwell in. Japhet, as we faid before, though u-
the end fuully mentioned laft, yet was in ideality the eldeft fon of
Noah, and accordingly has his defcendents here placed in
t&e front of the genealogy , He had f feven fons : Go-
mer, who feated hirnfelf in Phrygia ; Magog, in Scythia ;
Madai, in Media ; javan, in Ionia, or part of Greece ; Tu-
bal,, in Tibarene ; Mafhech, in Mofchia, (which lies in the
north-eait parts of Cappadocia) ; and Tiras, in Thrace,
Myiia, and the reft of Europe towards the north.
The fons of Gomer were A-ihkanaz, who took pofTef-
fion of Afcania, (which is pavtoi LeiTer Phrygia), Riphah,
of the Riphsean mountains ; :md Togarmagh, of part of
Cappadocia and Galatia;
The fons of Javan -ere E. h, who feated himfelf ia
Peloponnefus ; Tabfhifh, - ittim, in Italy ; and
Dodanim (i>) (others wim) in France, not
far from the banks of the ae, to which he feems
to have given the name. Ea th< id the colonies which
in fome fpace of time proceed- ihem, not only a
confiderable part of Aha, bit a! Europe, and the iflands
adjacent, were ftocked with inhabitants ; and the feveral
inhabitants were fo fettled and diipoied 01, that each tribe
or family who fpake the fame language kept together in one
body ; and (how diftant foever in their lituation) conti-
nued, for fome time at leaft, their relation to the people or
nation from whom originally they fprang.
(a) Mede's Difc. 49. 50. 1. I.
f The following account of the plantations of the three fons of
Noah and their defcendarts is extracted from Bochart's Pha!eg. ;
Heidegger's Hifloria painarcharum, vol, 1. exercit. 22. ; Wells's
Sacred geography, vol. 1. ; Bedford's Scripture-chronology, 1. 2. ;
Shuckford's Conne cfi< q, vol. 1 ; Parker's Bibliothtca Biblica,
vol. 1 ; the authors of the Univtrfal hiftory, 1. 1.; Le Clerc
and Patrick's Commentaries; Pool and Ainfworth's Annotations;
with other authors of the like nature ; from whom we have made
uf< of the mofr. probable conjeclures, and to whom we refer the
reader, rather than encumber him with a multitude of explanatory
rjotes.
{b) 1 Chron. i. 7.
Shem.
A
50
B
ir.
to
k
4(
\&UAe Tfaiitaiton o/ Aranv ifftt-r// Allv.
vvm^AL'fumAy Jt'>ustet>t/j ./it/i/Anm
I naharaitn<a/Pfal.<Jb^^{'<"'Ai'aiii/i'/»;'« M
I // />i'c TUvers,/7«/*Yy //<■ ^«<ifc*Meiopotiniia.
TfF :~M<7A,//t»t,*ri. o/Japha fyW ///
I Aifyrian»^8wwir«4y.
(sl7/ierJ/a//t,i/io>/ of 'tAs Posterity of "J a
phelW/W V/k- Affyrian Jtfon.mAii
(fefvre tAeuZPe0ttlsl3rce.ee
Media.'
At JheJLi/tt.itirn, or Arphaxad t:/ter j
tie Aflyrian JWbn.ar-c/14/ . /
E. /A.<H<t(t/.ttt<<n afm/Po-jlcntu ,>/A.rplia.\ac
7/fep y'AIfyriaxiJffonarL/ii/ ,,/////ArrapV
£~T/<rJLi/t~t,it,e>i ,/A.lllmr A/.vv '
D , i!i,'II,i/tt<itio)i of Aram vefirt
the Alivrian ^ Mfiuirr/iy .
E &ilu'Kalritaturii cfkJSaac after tele - VJK raai
Monardiu jcmietiirUi niituiit/y ,.i//J- JI-jIi '
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 317
Shem, the fecond fon of Noah, (and from whom the A. M.
Hebrew nation did defcend), had himfelf five ions; where- ' 7S$>, (^<";,
of Elam took pofleflion of a country in Perfia, called after ^l' £c '
himfelf at firft, but in the time of Daniel, it obtained the from' Gen.
name of Sufiana ; Ajjur, of Aljyria; Arphaxad,o£ Chaldaa;*- to the
Lud, of Lydia ; and Aram, of Syria, as far as the Mediter- ^n ' ?
ranean fea. ver. 10. to
The fons of Aram were Uz, who feated himfelf in the the end.
country of Damafcus; Hull, near Cholobatene in Arme- L*v"*^
nia; Mafli, near the mountain Mulus ; and Gether, in °f Shem"
part of Mefopotamia.
Arphaxad had a fon named Salah, who fettled near Su-
fiana, and begat Eber, (the father of the Hebrew nation),
who had likewife two fons ; Peleg, whofe name imports
divifion, becaufe in his days mankind was divided into feve-
ral colonies ; and Jocktan, who had a large offspring, to
the number of thirteen fons, all feated in Arabia Felix,
and who, in all probability, were the progenitors of fuch
people and nations as in thofe parts, in after ages, had
fome affinity to their feveral names. For here it was that
the Allumoeotae, who took their name from Almodad,
the Selapeni from Sheleph, and the Abalitse from Obal,
<bc. lived, viz. from that part of Arabia which lies be-
tween Mufa, (a famous fea-port in the- red-fea), and the
mountain Climax, which was formerly called Sephar, from
a city of that name built at the bottom of it, and then the
metropolis of the whole country.
Ham, the youngeft fon of Noah, had four fons ; where- ^nd of
of Cufh fettled his abode in that part of Arabia which lies Ham.
towards Egypt ; Mizraim, in both Upper and Lower E-
gypt ; Phut, in part of Lybia ; and Canaan, in the land
which was afterwards called by his name, and in other ad-
jacent countries.
The fons of Cum were Seba, who fettled on the fouth-
weft part of Arabia ; Havilah, who gave name to a coun-
try upon the river Pifon, where it parts with Euphrates, to
run into the Arabian gulf; Sabtah, who lived on the
fame fhore (but a little more northward) of the Arabian
gulf; Raamah, who, with his two fons Sheba and Dedan,
occupied the fame coaft, but a little more eaftward; and
Sabtccha, who (we need not doubt) placed himfelf among
the reft of his brethren. But among all the fons of Cufh,
Nimrod was the perfon who, in thefc early days, did iu-
guifhed himfelf by his bravery and courage. His lot chan-
ced to fall into a place that was not a little iniefted with
Vol. I. 3*1 wild
3 1 8 The Hirtory of the B I B L E, Book II.
A. M. wild beafts ; and therefore he betook himfelf to the exer-
yi9,crrf'rci^ of" hunting, and drawing together a company of ftout
*i4j, &c. young fellows, not only cleared the country of fuch dan-
from Gen. gerous creatures, but procuring himfelf likewife great ho-
s. to the nour and renown by his other exploits, he railed himfelf
end * Hiid "' * ■
f;om'c)1-J j. at length to the dignity of a king, (the firft king that is
ver. io to fuppofed to have been in the world), and having made Ba-
bylon the feat of his empire, laid the foundation of three
other cities, viz. Erech, Accad, and Calneth, in the neigh-
bouring provinces ; and fo palling into Afryria, and en*
larging his territories there, he built Nineveh, Rehobotb,
Calah, and Refen, (which was afterwards called Larijfa),
iituate upon the Tygris. But to return to the remainder
of Ham's poftcrity.
Mizraim, his fecond fon, became king of Egypt, which,
after his death, was divided into three kingdoms by three of
his fons ; Ananim, who svas king of Tanis, or Lower E-
gypt, called afterwards Delta ; Naphtulim, who was king
of Naph, or Memphis, in Upper Egypt ; and Pathrufim,
who fet up the kingdom of Pathros, or Thebes, in The-
bais. Ludim and Lehabim peopled Lybia: Cailubim fixed
himfelf at Caiiotis, in the entrance of ' Egypt from Pale-
stine ; and having two fons, Phiiiitim and Caphterim, the
latter he left to fucceed him at Cafiotis, and the former
planted the country of the Philiftines between the borders
of Canaan and the Mediterranean lea. The 'fons of Ca-
naan were Sidon, the father of the Sidonians, who lived
in Phoenicia ; Heth, the father of the Hitthes, who lived
near Hebron ; Emor, the father of the ,Amorites, who
jived in the mountains of Judea ; and Arvad, the father
of the Arvadites, not far from Sidon. But whether the
other fons of Canaan fettled in this country, cannot be de-
termined with any certainty and exattncfs ; only we mull
' take care to place them fomewhere between Sidon and Ge-
rar, and Admah and Zeboim ; for thefe were the boun-
daries of their land.
Upon the whole then we may obferve, that the pofterity
of Japhet came into the poiTeflion, not only of all Europe,
but of a considerable portion of Alia : [c] for two of his
fons, Tiras and Javan, together with their defcendents,
had all thole countries which, from the Mediterranean
lea, reach as far as Scandinavia northward ; and his other
fons, from the Mediterranean, extended themfelves eafi>
Ward over aimoit all Alia Minor, and part of Armenia,
(c) Heidegger's Hilt, patriar. vol, I. txercit. 22. feci, i.
Over
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 3 19
over Media, Iberia, Albania, and thofe vaft regions to- A- M-
wards the north, where formerly the Scythians, but now ^n*9 chrifi.
the Tartars, dwell; That the pofterity of Ham held in 2245, &c.
their pofTellion all Africa, and no fmall part of Afia ; (d) fr"m Gen:
Mizraim, both the Upper, Lower, and Middle EgjrptyJ^J? ^
Marmarica, and Ethiopia, both ealt and weft ; Phut, the from ch.ir.
remainder of Africa, Lybia, Interior and Exterior, Nu-ver. 10. to
midia, Mauritania. Getulia, 6c. \ Cufh, all Arabia that lies the enj^
between the Red-lea and the Gulf, beyond the Gulf, Car-
mania, and no fmall part of Perfia, and towards the north
of Arabia, (till expelled by Nimrod), Babylonia, and part
of Chaldea ; and Canaan, Paleftine, Phoenicia, part of
Cappadocia, and that large tract of ground along the Eu-
xine fea, even as far as Colchis ; and that the pofterity of
Shem had in their pofleffion part both of the Greater and
Lefieir Afia; (e) in the LefTer, Lydia, Mylia, and Carta ;
and in the Greater, Aflyria, Syria, Mefopotamia, Arme-
nia, Sufiana, Arabia Felix, isc, and perhaps eaftward, all
the countries as far as China.
Thefe are the plantations ( f) of the families of the fans of
Noah in their generations, and after this manner were the
nations divided in the earth after the food. And now to der
fcend to a more particular account of the pofterity of his foil
Shem, from whom the Hebrews (who are the proper iub-
jects of our hiftory) were defcended.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years A.M. t6$8,
old, he had- a fon named Arphaxad ; after which time he
lived ijoo years ; fo that the whole of his life was 600.
Arphaxad, when 35, had a fon named Salah ; after AM. 11593.
which he lived 403 years ; in all 438.
Salah, when 30, had a fon named Eber, (from whom A.M. 1715.
his defcendents were called Hebrews), after which he lived
403 years ; in all 433.
Eber, when 34, had a fon named Peleg, in whofe time A.M. \tsj,
(as we faid) the earth came to be divided ; after which he
lived 430 years ; in all 464.
Peleg, when 30, had a fon named Rev, after which heA.M. 1787.
lived 209 years ; in all 239.
Reu, when 32, had a fon named Serug ; after which he A.M. rSrp.
lived 207 years ; in all 239.
Serug, when 30, had a fon named Nahor ,■ after which A.M. 1849.
he lived 200 years ; in all 230.
Nahor, when 29, had a fon named Terach; after which A.M. t*7s.
he lived 119 years : in all 148. But of all thefe perfoos,
(.</) Ibid. feet. 2. (e) J bid. feci. 3. (/) Gen. X. 32.
2 I ?. it
3zo The Hiftory of the BIBLE, ' Book II.
A. M. it muft be remarked, that they had feveral other children
i</97, fcc. 0f both fexes. though not recorded in this hiftory.
2007 &c. Terah, when 70, (for he was not blelled with children
from Gen. fooner), had three fons, one after another, Abram, Na-
x. to the hor, and Haran j, whereof Haran, the eldefl, died before
from ch\ 1 ^s f^her, in his native country of Ur, leaving behind him
x-cr. 10. to one fon, whole name was Lot, and two daughters, whereof
th: end. the elder, viz. Milcah, was married to her uncle Nahor,
c--""v— —^ and the younger (f whofe name was Sarai) was married to
' I94 her uncle Abram; but at this time Ihe was barren, and
had no children.
A.M. ip?7- The corruption of mankind was now become general ;
and idolatry and polytheiim began to fpread like a conta-
gion, * the people of Ur, in particular, (g) (as is fuppofed
by the fignification of the name) worfhipped the element
of fire, which was always thought a proper fymbol of the
fun, that univerfal gcd of the eaft. Terah, the father
of Abram, (/;) was certainly a companion (fome fay a prieft)
of thofe who adored fuch ftrange gods ; nor was Abram
himfelf (as it is generally imagined) uninfected. But God
being minded to felect this family out of the reft of man-
. kind, and in them to eftablifh his church, ordered Terah
to leave the place of his habitation, which was then cor-
■f It is very probable, that Sarai was called Jfcah before (he left
Ur ; becaufe, in the 29th verfe, we read that Haran had a daugh-
ter of that name, and yet we .cannot fuppofe, but that, had (lie
been a diftinct perfon, Mofes would have given us an account of
her defcent, becaufe it fomuch concerned his nation to know from
whom they came both by the father and mother's fide ; Patrick's
Commentary.
* The dry of Ur was in Chaldce, as theScripture aflures us in
more places than one ; but fiill its true fituaticn is not fo well
known. For feme think it to be the fame as Camarina in Baby-
lonia ; others confound it with Orcha, or Orche, inChaldea;
while others again take it to be Ura, or Sura, Dpon the banks of
the river Euphrates. Bochart and Grotius maintain, that it is U-
ra, in the eaflem part of Mefcpstamia,* which was fometimes (as
it appears from Ads vii 2. 4.) included under the name Chaldee ;
and this fituatitn feems the n.ore probable, not only becaufe it a-
grees with the words of St Stephen in the above cited place, but
with the writings of Ammisnus IVJarcellinus likewife, who him-
felf travelled ihis ccuuuy, and mentions a city of this name in the
place where Eochart fuppofes it, about two days journey ficm Ni-
fibis; Wells' i Ceografhy,voL 1.
(g) lid. Calmci's Dictionary on the word £/r. {h) Jof.
xxiv. 2. 14.
rupted
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 3 2 1
rupted in this manner ; which accordingly he did, and A. M.
taking with him his fon Abram and his wife, together with '597, <frc.
his grandfon Lot, left Ur, with an intent to go into Ca- %' &^'
naan ; but in his journey fell lick at * Haran, a city of from Gen.
Mefopotamia, where being forced to make his abode forx- to the
fome time, jj in the 145th year of his age he there died. frnonfch „.
The Objection.
*: |j UT how well foever we may think it comports
" 1} with the character of a good hiftorian, to enter-
" tain us with a dry catalogue cf names, and of names
" which never once more appear upon the ftage of action ;
" to tell us, that fuch an one, at fuch a time, begat fuch
" an one, and then died, aged fo and fo, without enter-
* Haran, which is likewife called C haran, according to the
Hebrew, and Charran, according to the Greek pronunciation,
was a city fituated in the weft, or north-weft part of Mefopota-
Hiia, on a river of the fame name, which very probably runs into
the river Chaboras, as that does into the Euphrates, h is taken
notice of by Latin writers, on account of the great overthrow
which the Partisans gave the Roman army, under the command
efCraffiis, and, as fome think, had its name given by Tcrab,
in memory of Haran his deceafed (on. But others think it is
much better derived from the word Hharar, which denotes its
foil to be hot and adujl, as it appears to be from a paffage out of
Plutarch, in the life of Crafius, and feveral other ancient teftimo-
nies. Vid. Calmet's Dictionary ; Well's Geography ; and Le
Clerc's Commentary in locum*
|j St Stephen (in Ads vii. 4.) tells us, that after the death of
his father, Abraham removed from Haran, or, as he calls it,
Charran, to the land of Canaan. In Gen. xii 4. we art told,
that Abraham was /event) -five years old, -when hi departed out of
Charran. In Gen. xi. 26. it is faid, tiiat Terah w&sjlventy years
old when he begat Abraham ; and yet, in ver. 32. of the fame chap-
ter, it is affirmed, l\u\. he died, being two hundred and five years
old. But at this rate Terah muft have lived lixty years after A-
br.im's going from Haran : for 79 (the number of Abram 's years
when he left Haran) being added to 70, the- number of Terah 's
years, when he begat Abi am, make 145 years only ; whereas
the account in Gcnefis is, that he lived 20)5. This therefore muft
certainly proceed from a fault crept into the text of Mofes; be-
caufe of the two hundred and live years which are given 10 Te-
rah, when he died at Haran, he only lived an hundred and forty-
five, according to the Samaritan vcrfiou, and the Samaritan chro-
nicle, which, without doubt, do agree with the Hebrew copy,
from which they were trarulated ; An ejjay for a new iranfiation.
32 2 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. « j,ng any further into his ftory, or acquainting us with
Ai>'7'chrif. " one t"^e °^ tne tranfa&ions of his life ; yet fure we can-
A007, ire. " not think, that his account of the origin of nations, or
from Gen. « the plantation of mankind over the face of the earth,
end° and " can ^e eitner rational or confident. In little more than
fromch.n." the fpace of ap hundred .years, to fuppofe mankind fo
ver 10. to" far increafed, as to be able to fend out colonies, from
" the centre of their difperfion, to all the parts of the then
known world, is fomewhat unaccountable : but then
" to make infants, mere infants, or perfons, who per-
" haps, at that time, were unborn, the chiefs and lead-
" ers of thefe colonies ; to give them countries ~ which
" they never faw, and thefe countries names which they
** never could deferve, is a thing vaftly abfurd, and what
" argues, at leaft, a ftrange forgetfulnefs in our author.
" Peleg, for inftance, could not have been long born,
" and Jocktan, his younger brother, (much more Jock-
" tan's fons), can fcarce be fuppofed to have been born
" when the difperfion happened ; and yet they are repre-
" fented both as heads and princes of families ; one
" conducting his people to f the fouthern parts of Mefopo-
" tamia, and the other, with his numerous family, taking
" poffeffion of f a good fhare of Arabia Felix. And
" whereas it is faid of the fons of Japhet, that by them
" were the ifles of the Gentiles divided into their lands,
" it is manifeft, from the account of Mofe9 himfelf, that
" the places which he affigns for their habitation, were
" all upon the continent; nor were the iilands of Europe
" peopled, till many generations after this period were
" paft and gone.
" The defign of Mofes, no doubt, is to evince, that
" all the prefent inhabitants of the world defcended origi-
" nally from the three fons of Noah; but befides the great
f It is not unlikely, that either Pclcg, or feme of his pofterity,
gave name to a town upon Euphrates, called Fhatga, not far from.
the place where the river Chaboras runs into it ; Patrick's Comment.
f The Arabians, it is certain, do avowedly derive their ori-
ginal from Jocktan ; and herein they may as well be credited, as
ihe Europeans, who pretend 10 be fprung from Japetus, or Ja-
phet ; or the Africans, who will have Ham; or Jupiter Hanmion,
for their founder There is moreover, in the territories of Me-
cha, a city which even to this day is called Baifath Jecktan,
i. e. (he feat and habitation of Jecktan, very remarkable for the
elegancy of its buildings, the plea fure of its lituation, and plenty
of its fountains; Patrick and Le Merc's Comment.
" difficulty
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 323
" difficulty of fettling the feveral nations in any tolerable A. M.
" manner, according to the chartel which he has given '997, &e.
<c us, there muft of neceffity have been people in the^™- ^"
" world, either efcaped from the flood, or felf-originated, fromGen.
'* before this sera of their difperfion. x. to the
" Between the flood and this difperfion, the fpace is end; and
" little more than a hundred years : Ninus is placed byver IO' to
tl many chronologers in this tirft century : but fuppofe him the end.
" conllderably later, he is far from being the firft founder
" of the Affyrian monarchy. Belus preceded him, and
" feveral kings there were before Belus : but now, how
" can this agree with the -propagation of mankind from
" the fons of Noah ? Some petty ftates might perhaps be
" eredled ; but it is impoffible to conceive, that the foun-
" dation of fo great an empire fhould he laid, in fo fmall
" a compafs of time, by the pofterity of three perfons.
" The records, and aftronomical obfervations of fome
" countries, reaching much lower than the Mofaic date
" of the flood ; the hiftory of China, and the ftate and
" grandeur of other eaftern nations, in times as an-
" cient as any mentioned in profane hiftory, together with
'* the maturity of civil dilcipline and government, of
" learning and inventions of all kinds, before ever Greece
** or Italy, or any other weftern people, grew to be at all
" confiderable, are a fufficient argument that thefe people
" were no defcendents of Noah ; or that if they were,
" that there muft be a grofs miftake in point of compu-
" tation. For (to take one argument more from Moles
" himfelf) from the flood to the time of Abraham, (ac-
*' cording to the Hebrew account), were much about 305
" years; and yet, in that patriarch's days, the world
" was lb well replenifhed, and dominions fo well eftablifhed,
" that we read of feveral kings encountering one another ;
**. by which it is evident, that the earth had been peopled
" fome time before, or other wife there could not have
"• been fuch potent princes as fome of them are reprefent-
M ed to be at that time.
" The difficulties then, in the Mofaic account of
ft the origin of nations, being fo many, and fo infupc-
" rable, it may not perhaps be deemed lb abfurd a thing,
" that feveral other nations (as well as the Greeks and
" Egyptians) have owned no founder, but profeffed them-
*' felves Aborigines, or the firft inhabitants of the countries
*' where they lived. And without fome fuch fuppofition,
" what can we lay for the natives of America, a large conti-
" nent,
324 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. « nintf which Mofes makes no mention of; and yet, up-
Ant. 'chrif. " on lts m"^ difcovery, was found flocked with a compe-
1007, &c. " tent number of inhabitants, though it apparently has no
hom Gen. <•- connection, and confequently could have no communica-
eiul- and " t*oa w*tft an7 other parts of the globe ? Who was their
from ch. it." great progenitor ? What chief, of all the race of Noah,
ver. io. to", ihft difcovered the paffages that have ever fince been
" loft, and carried a colony into this new world, which
" could none of them find their way back again ? Tdiefe
" queftions we expedt to be refolved in, or otherwife we
" may be permitted to conclude, that the inhabitants of
" this part of the world had -better fate than thofe of the
*\ other, in efcaping the rage of the waters, and fo furvi-
" ving the flood."
It may feem not'a little ftrange to fome perhaps, why
by fliewin'w Mofes, in his account of the times both preceding and
why Mofesfubfequent to the flood, fhould be fo particular in letting
fetsdown down the genealogies of the patriarchs; but he who con-
genea °giesfljers tjiat this was the common method of recording hi-
* ftory in thofe days, will foon perceive, that he had rea-
fon fuffieient for what he did ; namely, to give content and
fatisfa&ion to the age wherein he wrote. We indeed, ac-
cording to the prefent tafte, think thefe genealogies but
heavy reading ; nor are we at all concerned who begat
whom, in a period that (lands at fo diftant a profpect ; but
the people, for whom Mofes wrote, had the things either
before their eyes, or recent in their memories. They faw
a great variety of nations around them, different in their
manners and cufloms, as well as their denominations. The
names whereby they were then called, were not to them
fo antique and obfolete, as they arc to us. They knew their
meaning, and were acquainted with their derivation. And
therefore it was no fmall pleafure to them, to obferve,
as they read along, the gradual increafe of mankind ; how
the Item of Noah fpread itfelf into branches almoffc in-
numerable, and how, from fuch and fuch a progenitor,
fuch and inch a nation, whofe hiftory and adventures they
were no Arrangers to, did arife. Nor can it be lefs than
fome iatisfaction to us, even at this mighty diftance, to
perceive, that after fo many ages, the change of lan-
guages, and the alteration of names, brought in by va-
riety of conqueits, we are (tillable to trace the footfleps of
the names recorded by Mofes ; by the help of thefe can *
difcover
S Thofe who have undertaken to give us an account of the
feveral
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham, 325
difcover thofe ancient nations which defcended from them, A- M-
and, with a little care and application, die particular re'j^fj'chrif
gions which they once inhabited ; whereof the belt hea-i&o7, &c.
then geographers, without the affiftance of thefe facred rc-t'om Gen.
1 • r 1 • v m the ■
cords, were never in a capacity io much as to rave us a , ,
tolerable gueis. _ tmmch. n.
But there is a farther reafon for our hiftorian's wri-ver. 10. n>
ting in this manner. God had promifed to Adam, and :nt:ic C!Ki-
him to all his pofterity, a reftoration in the perfon of tiie
Meffiah. This promife was renewed to (z) Noah, and af-
terwards confirmed to Abraham, the great founder of the
Jewilh nation. Fit therefore it was, in this regard, that
he fhould record exact genealogies, and that all other facred
hiftorians fhould lucceflively do the fame : nor can we fuf
ficiently admire the divine wifdom, in fettling fuch a me-
thod, in the beginning of the world, by Moles, and carry-
ing it on by the prophets, as might be of general ufe as
feveral countries affigned to Noah's pofterity, have hid down cer-
tain rules, as land-marks, to direct our inquiry into the origi-
nal of each particular nation. They tell us, that where- ever we
rind the Scripture affigning any portion or tract of land, to
any branch of Noah's pofterity, we may reft allured, that that
particular branch, or at lealt the major part of it, fettled itfelf
there : that the families, or tribes of any nation, are conti-
nually ranked in that nation ; fo that where-ever we find the na-
tion, there wc may expect to find the family likewife, unlets
there be apparent evidence of their tranfplantation : that when
two or more of thefe nations are mentioned together, it is high-
ly probable, that they were either both featcd together, or lay in
a very near neighbourhood to each other : that when two na-
tions or tribes happen to be incorporated into one, the name
of one of them is generally fwallowed up by the other, and al-
ways goes along with the greater: that all original plantations
ought to be fought for within a reafonable compafs of earth,
from the centre of their difper/ion, from whence they might, in
colonies, afterwards extend themfelves into flill remoter parts :
that the origin of nations, and their cognation and affinity to
one another, are to be judged of by the agreement of languages,
the remainders of ancient names, the hiftory of nations, mo-
numental inferiptions, and a conformity of manners and cu-
floms; and that, laftly, according to thefe criteria, we /hall find
thaf the race of Shem fettled chiefly in Afu ; thofe of Kam,
part in Aria, and part in Africa; and the greater part of t!
of Japhct in Europe; fo that Shem was fituate in the call, with
Japhet on the north, ami Ham on the lbuth.
(/') Vld. Bp Sherlock's Ufe and intent of prophecy.
Vol. I. 3 K long
3i6 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. long as the world fliould laft. For as the expectation of
^9t7'c^r'jf the Meiliah put the Jews upon keeping an exact account
aoo'y, &C. °f au' their genealogies; fo when Chrift came into the
Tiom Gen. world, it was evident, beyond difpute, that he was of the
* A° the, T^rci o/"v'/(W/ww, of the tribe of Jiidah, and of the lineage
tVoftich. n.?£ David, according to the promifes which had, from
vev. io. to time to time, been recorded of him.
i he end. It is well worth our obfervation however, that in the
_~v"^~/cata!o gue which Mofes gives us of the dependents of
1 -cads of aii^Joah, he makes mention of no more than fixteen fons of
the nations,- the three brothers, or principal founders of fo many origi-
then ( xift- naj nations ; nor of any more than feven of thefe fixteen,
ins;, are not ,- i • • t a ■•% -\
fei do M - "ri whom it is recorded, that th
feLdoMNfc ^ whom it is recorded, that they had any children; and
iflbven of thefe feven, there is one (we may obferve) whofe
children are not numbered, (k) But it is not to be imagined,
that ia two or three hundred years, upon a moderate cal-
culation, or even but- in an hundred years, at the loweft
account, Noahfhould have had no more than fixteen
grandfons ; and that of thefe too, the majority mould go
chilcllejfs to the grave : it is much more likely, or rather
felf-evident, that the nine grandfons, of whom we find no-
thing in Scripture, were neveithelefs fathers of nations, as
well as any of the reft, and not only of original nations,
called after their names, but of lefTer and fubordinate tribes,
called after their fons names : and (what makes the amount
to feem much lefs) there is reafon to fuppofe, that how
many fo ever the grandchildren of Noah were, we have,
in this tenth chapter of Genefis, the names of thofe only
who were patriarchs of great nations, and only of fuch
nations as were in the days of Moles known to the He-
brews. For if we read it attentively, we fhall perceive,
(/) that the defign of the holy penman, is not to prefent us
with an exact enumeration of all Noah's dependents,
(which would have been infinite), no, nor to determine who
were the leading men-above all the reft; but only to give
us a catalogue, or general account, of the names of fome
certain perlbns, defcended of each of Noah's children, who
became famous in their generations ; and fo pafs them by,
lis having not fpace enough in his hiftory to purfue them
more minutely. For we may obferve, that the conftant
practice of our author (as it is indeed of all other good au-
thors,) is to cut things fliort that do not properly relate to
f£) Biblioth. Bibl, vol. I. Occaf. anuot. 17. (/) Shack-
3 Connect, 1. ?.
Chap. Ill, from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 327
his purpofe ; and when he is haftening to his main point, a. m.
to mention curforily fuch peribns as were remarkable i9P7» &c,
(though not the iubjedt he is to handle) in the times where- % "J' ^T* '
of he treats. n-om'Gen.
Thus, in the entrance of his hiftory, his bufinefs was x. to the
to attend to the line of Seth ; and therefore, when he"K,;/md
comes to mention the oppolite family of Cain, (1;:) h.eyeT. l0\ to
only reckons up eight of them, and thefe the rather be- the end,
caufe they were the real inventors of iome particular *— - "v~" •**
arts, which the Egyptians vainly laid claim to. And in
like manner, when he comes to the life of Ifaac, Jacob's
Was the next line wherein his hiftory was to run ; and
therefore he contents himfelf with giving us a catalogue -
of ibme of Efau's race, but fuch of them only as were
in after-ages, (n) the Dukes of Edom, according to iheir
habitations in the land of their peffefjioji, as he expreffes
it. Unlefs therefore, we would deiire it in an author,
that he would be luxuriant, and run wild, we cannot,
with any colour of reafon, blame the divine hiftorian
for flopping lhort upon proper occafions ; for had he pur-
fued all the families defcended from Noah, into their
feveral plantations, and there given us the hiftory of all
their various adventures, the world, we may almoft lay,
would not have contained the books which he muft have
written ,
"What grounds there may be for the fuppofitionj I TIie w°rld
cannot tell ; but to me there fetms no reafon why we L^J,]! f
fhould be obliged to maintain, that all the parts of the"3
habitable world were peopled at once, immediately after
the confufion of languages. The hiftorian, indeed, fpeak-
ing of the perfons he hadjuft enumerated, gives v.s to
know, that (0) by thefe. were the nations divided after the
flood; but how long after the flood, he does not inti-
mate : fo that there is no occafion to underftand the
words, as though he meant, that either by thefe only or
by thefe immediately, or by thefe all at ence, was the
earth replenished ; but only, that among others, (unmen-
tioned, becaufe not fo well known to the- Jews), there
were fo many perfons of figure descended from the fons
of Noah, who, ibme at one time, and fome at another,
became heads of nations, and had, by their dependents,
countries called after their names; fo that (/;) by them
■-»
(in) Gen. iv. (//) Cb. xxxvi. 4?. (0) Ch x. 52.
(//■Shiickforcfs Connection, vol. 1. 1. 3,
7 K 2. the
I
328 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. the nations ivere divided, i. e. people were broken into
Am' Oh "f different nations on the earth, not all at once, or imrae-
aoo7, &c. diately upon the confufion, but at feveral times, as their
from Gen. families increafed and feparated after the flood.
x. to the por conilJering; that the number of mankind was then
enc* nnd
from'ch. „. comparatively fmall, and the diftance of thefe countries,
ver. 10. to from the place of their difperflon, immenfely wide; it is
the end. mors reafonable to think, that thefe feveral plantations
were made at different umes, and by a gradual progreffion.
Mofes indeed informs us, that the earth was portioned out
among the children of Noah, after their tongues : fuppofing
then, that the number of languages was, according to the
.number of the heads of nations, fixteen, thefe fixteen
companies ifiued out of Babel at feparate times, and by
feparate routs, and fo took poffeffion of the next adjacent
country, whereunto they were to go. Here they had
not fettled long, before the daily increafe of the people
made the bounds of their habitation too narrow ; where-
upon the fucceeding generation, under the conduct of
fome other leader, leaving the place in pofTeffion of fuch
as cared not to move, penetrated farther into the country,
and there fettling again, and again becoming too nume-
rous, fent forth frelh colonies into the places they found
unoccupied ; till, by this way of progreffion on each fide,
from the centre to every point of the circumference, the
whole world came in time to be inhabited, in the manner
that we now find it. If then the feveral parts of the globe
were by the fons of Noah gradually, and at fundry times,
peopled, there wanted not, all at once, fo many ; and if
feveral of the fons of Noah who had their fhare in peo-
pling the globe, are not taken notice of by Mofes, there
might poffibly be many more to plant and replenifh the
earth than we are aware of. Let us then fee what their
number, upon a moderate computation, might, at this
time, be fuppofed to be.
What the HTo this purpofe we are to remember, that we are not
tllepeopl" t0 make our computation accoi-ding to the prefent ftandard
then in the of human life, which *, fince the time of the flood, is
vorldmight ■> vaftly
poffibly be.
* In the Mofaic hiftory we find, by what degrees the long
lives, which preceded the ilcod, were after it Ihortened. The
fii ft tint e generations recorded in Scripture after the deluge, Ar-
phaxad, Salah, and Heber, lived above 430 years. Yet not fo
long as their aziceflor Shem, who being bom iooyears before the
flood,
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 329
vaftly abbreviated ; that the ftrength of confutation ne- A- M-
ceflary to the procreation of children, which, by a con- /^f/'chrif
tinued courfc of temperance, and hmplicity of diet, then 1007, &c.
prevailed, is now, by an induction of all manner of riot trom G?n.
and excefs, fadly impaired ; and that the divine benedic- x' l,° ,
tion, which, in a particular manner, was then poured outfIOmch. ir.
upon the children of Noah, could not but prove effectual ver. 10. to
to the more than ordinary multiplication of mankind ; fo
that length of days, aflifted by the bleffing of God, and
attended with a confirmed ffcate of health, could not but
make a manifeftly great difference between their cafe and
ours.
* Various are the ways which have been attempted
by learned men to fhew the probable increafe of man-
flood, lived above 500 after it. The three next generations,
Peleg, Reu, and Serug, lived not much above 230 years ; and
from their time only Terah lived above 200. All the others
after him were below that number. Mofes came not to be above
120; and in his days he complains that the age of man was
fhortened to about feventy or eighty years; and near this ftandard
it has continued ever fince ; Millars Church-hijlory, p. 35.
* Petavius [de Doct. Temp. 1. 9. c. 14.] fuppofes, that the
pofterity of Noah might beget children at feventeen ; that each of
Noah's fons might have eight children in eight years after the
flood ; and that every one of thefe eight might beget eight more :
by this means, in one family (as in that of Japhet, 238 years af-
ter the flood) he makes a diagram, confuting of almofl an innu-
merable company of men. Temporarius (as the learned Ulher,
in his Chron. Sacra, ch. 5. tells us) fuppofes that ail the polterity
of Noah, when they attained twenty years of age, had ever/
year twins ; and hereupon he undertakes to make it appear, that
in 102 years after the flood, there would be in all 1,534,400;
but without this fuppoiition of twins, there would in that time be
388,605 males, belides females. Others fuppofe, that each of
the fons of Noah had ten fons, and by that proportion, in a few
generations, the amount will arife to many thoufauds within a cen-
tury. And others again infifr. on the parallel between their in-
creafe and the multiplication of the children of Ifrael in -Egypt,
and thereupon compote, that if from 72 men, in the fpace of cr^
years, there were procreated 600,000, how many will be born
of three men in the fpace of 100 years ? But what method foevcr
we take to come to a probable conjecfure, we ftill have caufe to
believe, that there was a more than ordinary multiplication in the
pofterity of Noah after the flood ; Stilling pet's Grig. Snjr. /. 3.
e. 4.
kind,
33o The Hiftory of the B I B L E, Book If.
A. M. kind, in that period of time : but for our prefent purpofe,
A97'chHf.^ w^ ^e ^u^cient to fuppofe, (q) that the iivft three
aoo7, &c. couples, i. e. Noah's three fons, and their wives, in twen-
from Gen. ty years time after the flood, might have thirty pair, and,
x. to the by a graciUal increafe of ten pair for each couple in forty
from'ch. u.years time, till the three hundred and fortieth year after the
ver io. to flood, in which Peleg died, there might rife a fufncient
the end. number (* as appears by the table under the page) to
*fc"""""v~B*^fpread colonies over the face of the whole earth. And if
to thefe the feveral collateral delcendents of Noah's pofte-
rity were taken in ; if the children which Noah himfelf
might poffibly have in the 350 years he lived after the
flood ; which Shem and his two brothers might have in the
laft 160; which Salah and his contemporaries might have
in the laft 1 60 ; and which Heber and his contemporaries
might have in the laft 191 years of their lives, (which are
not reckoned in the account), together with the many more
grandfons of Noah and their progeny, which, in all pro-
bability, (as we obferved before), are not fo much as men-
tioned in it ; it is not to be imagined how much thefe ad-
ditions will fwell the number of mankind to a prodigious
amount above the ordinary calculation.
That king- But allowing the number at this time to be not
d°msatthisnear fo large as even the common computation makes it ;
time were ye). wg are tQ rememDerj that at the firft planting of any
country, an handful of men (as it were) took up a large
trail: of ground, (r) At their firft divifion, they were
fcattered into imaller bodies, and feated themfelves at a
confiderable diftance from one another, the better to pre-
vent the increafe of the beafts of the field upon them.
Thefe fmall companies had each of them one governor,
(q) Bifhop Cumberland's Origines gentium, tract. 4. ; and
Millar's Church-hiftory, ch. 1. part 2.
* Years of the world. Years after the flood. Pairs of men and women.
i<57<S 20 30
1716 60 300
1756 loo 3,000
X796 140 30,000
1836 180 300,000
I876 2SO 3,000,000
191$ 3.6(3 30,000,000
I9S6 30O 300,000,000
1996 340 3,000,000,000
(r) Bedford's Script, chron. 1. 1. c 5.
who.
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 331
who, in Edom, feems to be called (s) a duke, and in Ca- ^ A- M-
naan, (t ) a king, (whereof there were no lefs in that fmall A^Jchrifi
country than one and thirty at one time) : but of what i0o7, &c.
power or military force thefe feveral princes were, we may fro™ Gen.
learn from this one paffage in Abraham's life, viz, thatencl°; 'and
(u) when Chedorlaomer, in conjunction with three other fromch. n.
kings, had defeated the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, ver. 10. to
with three kings more that came to their affiftance, plun- f^"^^
dered their country, and taken away Lot and his family, ■"*"""
who at this time lojourned in thefe parts ; Abraham, with
no more than 318 of his own domeftics, purfues the con-
querors, engages them, beats them, and, together with his
nephew Lot, and all his Jubilance, recovers the fpoil of
the country which thefe confederate kings were carrying
away. A plain proof this, one would think, that this
multitude of kings which were now in the world were ti-
tular, rather than real ; and that they had none of them
any great number of fubjects under their command. For
though Canaan was certainly a very fruitful land, and may
therefore be prefumed to be better ftored with inhabitants
than any of its neighbouring provinces ; yet we find, that
when Abraham and Lot firft came into it, though (x) they
had flocks, and herds, and tents, that the land ivas notable
to bear them, that they might dwell together ; yet, as foon as
they were fepaxated, they found no difficulty to fettle in
any part thereof with the reft of its inhabitants.
How great foever the growth of the Affyiian monarchy T "ff^
became at laft, yet we have too little certainty of thefyria ;n
time when it began, ever to queftion, upon that ac- particular,
count, the truth of the propagation of the world by the
fons of Noah. Ninus (whom profane hiftory generally
accounts the firft founder of it) is placed ( y ) by one of
our greateft chronologers, in the 2737 year of the world,
according to the Hebrew computation ; fo that, living in
the time of the Judges, he is fuppofed to have been
contemporary with Deborah ; but (z) others think this a
date much too early. Nimrod, we muft allow, founded
a kingdom at Babylon, and perhaps extended it into Al-
fyria ; but this kingdom was but of fmall extent, if cQm-
(j) Gen. xxxvi. to the end. (/) Jof. xii. o. to the end.
(u) Gen. xiv. (x) Gen. xiii. 5. 6. (>) Uiher's Annot.
Vet. Teft. A. M. 27?7- (2) Still i n gfleet's Orig. Sacr. 1. 3.
c. 4. ; and Sir Ifaac Newton's Chron.
pared
332 . The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. pared with the empires which arofe afterwards ; and yet,
»997, &.c. had it been ever fo much greater, it could not have been of
aoo", J1 ' any long continuance, becaufe the cuftom in thofe early
fromGen. days was for the father to divide his territories among
x. to the his fons. After the days of Nimrod, we hear no more
end ; and jn tjie facre(j reCords of the Afiyrian empire, till about the
fromch.n. - y r f >.
rer. 10. to year 3234> when we lind rul invading the territories or
the end. Ifrael, and making Menahem tributary to him. It is
granted indeed, that the four kings, who, in the days of
Abraham, invaded the fouthern coaft of Canaan, came
from the countries where Nimrod had reigned, and per-
haps were fome of his pofrerity who had Shared his con-
quests ; but of what fmall fignificance fuch kings as thefe
were, we are juft now come from relating. Sefac and
Memnon, two kings of Egypt, were great conquerors,
and reigned over Chaldea, Aflyria, and Perfia ; and yet,
in all their histories, there is not one word of any oppo-
sition they received from the Afiyrian monarchy then
Standing : and though Nineveh, in the time of Joafh, king
of Ifrael, was become a large city ; yet it had not yet ac-
quired that ftrength as not to be afraid (according to the
preaching of Jonah) of being invaded by its neighbours,
and deftroyed within forty days. Not long before this, it
had freed itfelf indeed from the dominion of Egypt, and
had got a king of its own, but (what is very remarkable)
(a) its king was not as yet called the king of JJfyria,
but only (b) the king of Nineveh ; nor was his proclama-
tion for a faft published in feveral nations, no nor in all
Aflyria, but only in Nineveh, and perhaps the villages ad-
jacent : whereas, when once they had eftablifhed their do-
minion at home, fecured all Aflyria properly fo called, and
began now to make war upon their neighbouring nations,
their kings were no longer called the kings of Nineveh,
but began to aflume the title of the kings of Ajjyria.
Thefe, and feveral more inftances which the author I
feave juft now cited has produced, are fufficient arguments
to prove that the Afiyrians were not the great people
fome have imagined in the early times of the world ; and
that if they made any figure in Nimrod's days, it was ail
extinguished in the reigns of his fucceflbrs, and never re-
vived, until God, for the punifhment of the wickednefs of
{(i) Sir Ifaac Newton's Chronology, ch. 'iii. {]>) Jonah
i».".
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 533
his own people, was pleafed to raife them from obfcurity, A. Rf.
and, as the Scripture 'exprefles it, (c) for red up the '92 7, &?>■
fpirit of Pal, and the fpirit of Tigldth-Pilnefer, king of aoo1' 2 " '
Ajfyria. from Gen.
And in like manner we may obferve, that whatever noife x- to l'lc
has been made in the world with the aftronomical obfer-^ZJ ?n<
vations of the Chaldeans, which Ariftotle is laid to have Ver. 10. to
fent into Greece, and according to which Alexander i.-s t?1c end.
thought to have taken at Babylon, the whole is a mere fie- "~T~VT""'"'
tion and romance. There is nothing extant (as (d) a very ancj*lu;ty0f
goad judge of ancient and modern learning tells us) in the tl
Chaldaic affcrology oir older date than the aara of Nabor.af- micah
fir, which begins but 747 years before Chrift. By this seraj^1
the Chaldeans computed their aftronomical obfervati
the fir ft of which falls about the 27 th year of NabonafTar ; falfc :
and all that we have of them are only feven eclipfes of the
moon, and even thefe but very coarfely fet down, and the
oldeft not above 700 years before Chrift. And to make
fhort of the matter, the fame author informs us farther,
that the Greeks were the firft practical aftronomers who
endeavoured in earneft to make tnemfelves mailers of the
fciences ; that Thales was the firft who could predict an
eclipfe in Greece, not 6od years, and that Hipparchus
made the firft catalogue of the fixed ftars, no: above 6^0
years before Chrift.
What the hiftory of the Egyptians and Cldhefe, and^
their boafted antiquity, is, we have had occafion to take of the
notice (e) more than once; and need only here to add,gypt'am
that, bating that ftrange affectation wherein they both
agree, of being thought fo many thoufand years older -
than they have any authentic teftinionies to prodm
there is a manifeft analogy between the Scripture
ftory, and what Bcroius has told us of the one, and
Martinius of the other: For (to refer the reader to what
we have obferved from Berofus concerning the i
(/) the genealogy which the Chinefe give us of the family
of their rirft man, Puoncuus feems to carry a near re
blance to Mofes's patriarchal genealogies-, Thiehhoang theii
lecond king's civilizing the world, anfwers very well to
Seth's fettling the principles, and reforming the* lives 1
(<?) 1 Chron. v. 2^. (./) Wottcn's Reflections, ch. 23.
(«•) /'/./. Apparatus, p. 7.'. 7y. ; and the Hiflory, 1. 1. c. 5«
(j ) Biblioth. Bib. in the introduction, p. 77.
Vol. I. 2 L men;
The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
The wild
pretences
of feif-oii-
gination
confuted.
men ; and Fohi's fourth fucceflbr, whom they accufe of
deftroying their ancient religion, and introducing idolatry,
is plainly copied from the hiftory of Nimrod, who was
probably the firft eftablifher of idol-worfhip. So that
from thefe, and fame other particulars in their hiftory, we
may be allowed to conclude, that the ancient Chinefe (as
all other nations did) agreed, in the main, with Mofes in
their antiquities ; and that the true reafon of their chro-
nological difference is, that the reigns of the Chinefe kings
(in the very fame manner as the Egyptian dynafties) were
not fucceffive, ( g ) but of feveral contemporary princes,
who, at one and the fame time, had different and diftincr.
dominions.
The want of certain records of ancient times, and confe-
quently, the grofs ignorance which fome nations laboured
under as to their original, has thrown feveral into a wild
notion and conceit, that they were felf-originated, came
never from any other place, and had never any primordial
founder or progenitor. But now, whatever hypothefis
they are minded to take ; whether they fuppofe a begin-
ning or no beginning of human generation ; whether they
fuppofe men to have fprung out of the fea, or out of the
land ; to have been produced from eggs caft into the ma-
trix of the earth, or out of certain little pujlula or fungo-
fities on its furface ; to have been begotten by the anima
mundi in the fun, or by an anima terra pervading the body
of this terraqueous globe ; to have been fent forth into the
world lilently, and without noife, or to have opened die
womb of their common mother with loud claps of thunder :
take they which of thefe hypothefes they will, I fay, and
when they once come to reafon upon it, they will foon find
themfelves hampered and entangled with abfurdities, and
impombilities almoft innumerable.
All nations to whom the philofophers in fearch after
knowledge reforted, had memorials, we find, left among
them, of the firft origin of things ; but the univerfal
tradition of the firft ages was far better preferved among
the eaftern than weftern nations, and thefe memorials
were kept with greater care by the Phoenicians and Egyp-
tians than by the Greeks and Romans. (/;) Among theGreeks
however, when they firft undertook to philofophize, the
beginning of the world, with the gradual progreffion of
its inhabitanss, was no matter of diipute ; but that being
(g) M. de Loubere's Hift. of Siam. (/>) Bibliotbeca Bi-
U'.ca, vd. i. occaf. annot. c. 17.
• taken
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 235
taken for granted, the inquiry was, Out of what material A. M.
principles the cofmical fyftem was formed ? and Ariftotle, '99 7, <be.
arrogating to himfelf the opinion of the world's eternity as^^ ^
a noflriim, declared that all mankind before him averted from' Gen.
the world's creation. x- t0 tne
From this wild notion of Ariftotle, in opposition to an IrotiJ ch" i
univerfal tradition, and the confent of all ages, the poets ver. IO, t0'
took occafion to turn the hiftories of the oldeft times into the end.
fables ; and the hiftorians, in requital and courtefy to them,
converted the fables which the poets had invented into hi-
ftories, or rather popular narratives ; and moft of the fa-
mous nations of the earth, that they might not be thought
more modern than any of their neighbours, took occafion
too of forging certain antiquities, foolilh genealogies, ex-
travagant calculations, and the fabulous actions and ex-
ploits of gods and heroes, that they might thus add to their
nobility by an imaginary anticipation of time, beyond the
poffible limits that could be made known by any pretence
of certainty.
The wifer fort of men however faw into this ; and, from
the ordinary increafe and propagation of mankind, the in-
vention and growth of arts and fciences, and the advance-
ments carried on in civil difcipline and government, could
difcern the folly and fuperftition of all fuch romantic pre-
tenfions : but then, having loft the true ancient tradition,
they were drove to the neceffity of a perpetual viciffitude,
either of general or particular deluges ; by which, when
things were come to their crills and perfection, they were
made to begin again, and all preceding memoirs were fup-
pofed to be loft in thefe inundations. But this is all a
groundleis conjecture, a mere begging of the queftion, and
a kind of prophefying backwards of fuch alterations and
revolutions, as it is morally impoffible for them to know
any thing of.
Since therefore an eternal fucceffion of generations is
loaded with a multitude of infuperable difficulties, and no
valid arguments are to be found for making the world old-
er than our facred books do make it ; fince the prefumed
grandeur of the Anyrian, and other monarchies, too foon
after the flood to be peopled by Noah's children, is a grofs
miftake, and the computations of the Chaldeans and other
nations, from their obfervations of the celeftial bodies,
groundlefs and extravagant ; fince all the pretenfions of the
ieveral Aborigines are found to be ridiculous, and the more
plaufible inventions of fuccefiive revolutions entirely una?
3 h 2 * ginary ;
330 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Bookll.
A. TvT. ginr.ry ; fince neither the felf-originifts, nor the revolu-
*997j fcf.' tiOniiVs, even upon their own principles, can account for
to ' \ Vv 'aat ls m°ft eafily accounted for by the writings of Mofes ;
fromGen. and (what is a farther coniideration) fince f there are ma-
x. to the ny cuftoms and ufages, both civil and religious, which
end ; and have prevailed in all parts of the world, and can owe their
ironi Cii.i i. *
ver. 10. toor'g'mal to nothing elfe but a general inftitution ; which
the end inftitution could never have been, had not all mankind
^r^v~*~/becn of the fame blood originally, and inftrucbed in the
fame common notices, before they were divided in the
earth : fince the matter ftands thus, I fay, we have all the
realoii in the world to believe, that this whole narration of
Mofes concerning the origination of mankind, their de*
fLruefionby the flood, their renovation by the fons of Noah,
their fpeedy multiplication to a great number, their
ciifperfion upon the confulion of languages, and their fet-?
tling tbemfelyes in different parts of the world, according
to their allotments, is true in fact ; becaufe it is rational,
and confident with every event ; confonant to the notions
we have of God's attributes ; and not repugnant to any
iyftem of either ancient or modern geography that we know
of.
V h've Time indeed, and the uncertain fiate of languages;
certain the different pronunciation of the fame word, according to
knowledge the dialect of different nations; the alterations of names
new fome jn fev£rai p]ace3 antj fubftitution of others of the like im-
paruculap .r ' ,.,, .-. r •
rations portance in the vernacular tongue ;. the duguiiing or ancient
i-ic fiories in fables, and frequently miftaking the idiom of o-
| . . ted. r;entai languages ; the inundation of barbarifm in many
countries, and the conquefts and revolutions generally ia-
\ Such are, i. The numbering by Bccads. 2. The com-
puting time by a cycle of feven days. 5. The facrednefs of
iht feventh number, and obfcrvaUon of a feventh day as holy.
4. The life of Sacrifices, propitiatory, and ■ettchariftical. 5. The
confecrafion of temples and altars. 6. The inftitution of fanctua-
lies, and their privileges. 7. Separation of tenths and firft fruits
to the ferviee of the altar. 8. The custom of worfhippmg the
Deity difcalcested or bare-footed. 9. Abfiincnce of hufbands
from thtir wives before facriiice. 10. The order of prieflhood,
and the maintenance of it. 11. Moil of the expiations and pol-
lutions mentioned by Mofes, in ufe among all famous nations.
12. An univcrfal tradition of two protopbfls, deluges, and. re:
ttc\Yi;:g mankind afterwards; Biblioihsca Bibl'tca, vol. 1. p. 296.
trodu&ive
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 337
trodudtive of new names, which have happened almoft in A. M.
all; thefe, and feveral other caufes, create fome perplexi- '997, 6f-
ty in determining the places recorded by Mofes, and afcer-iooc^ &^_
taining the founder of each particular nation : but ftill, from Gen.
notwithstanding thefe difadvantages, we may, in fome mea- *• to the
fure, trace the foot-fteps of the fons of Noah, iffuing outg^5^0^
from Babel into the different quarters of the world, and in ver 10 to
feveral countries, perceive the original names of their the end
founders preferved in that of their own. v-" " V""^
For though the analogy of names be not, at all times, a
certain way of coming to the knowledge of things ; yet,
in this cafe, I think it can hardly be denied, but that the
AiTyrians defcended from Amir ; the Canaanites,.from Ca-
naan : the Sidonians, from Sidon ; the Lydians, from Lad ;
the Medes, from Madai : the Thracians, from Tiras ; the
Elamites, from Elam ; the Ionians, from Javan ; with
feveral others produced by (k) Grotius, (/) Montanus, (m)
Junius, (/;) Percrius, and more efpecially (0) Bochart,
that moft fplendid ftar of France, (as (p) one calls him up-
on this occafion), who, with wonderful learning and indu-
ftry, has cleared all this part of facred hiftory, and given
a full and Satisfactory account of the feveral places where
the posterity of Noah feated themfelves after the deluge.
How the large continent of America came to be peo-Eywhat,
, , .,, ° . , r . . . . . rways and
pled (nncc no mention ;s made or it in the writings or v,h'at na_
Moles, and fo vaft a fea feparates it from any other part oftions, Ame-
the known world) is a queftion that has exercifed the witnca m'^1"
of every age, fince its firft difcovery. It is worthy our ePeoPe"
obfervation however, that though all the great quarters of
the world are, for the moft part, Separated from each o-
ther, by fome vaft extcnfive ocean ; (7) yet there is always
fome place or other, where fome ifthmus, or fmall neck of
land, is found to conjoin them, or fome narrow fea is
made to diftinguifh and divide them. Alia and Africa, for
inftance, are joined together by an ifthmus, which lies be-
tween the Mediterranean fea and Arabian gulf. Upon
the coafts of Spain and Mauritania, Europe and Africa are
divided by no larger a fea than the Fretum Herculis, or
ftraits of Gibraltar; and above the Palus Meeotis, Europe
has nothing to part is from Afia, but the fmall river Tanais.
America, as it is divided into North and South, is joined
(k) Vid. Annot. 1. 1. De Verir. (/) Fa'cg. (m) In
Gen. x. («) Ibid. (0) Phaleg. (/>) Hmegger.
(g) Heidegger's Hid. patriarcharum, vol. i.exer. 22.
together
3S8 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
together by a neck of land which, from fea to fea, is not
above 18 leagues over : what feparates North Ameri-
ca from the northern parts of Alia, is only the ftraits of
Anien ; or South America from die moft fouthern parts of
Alia, is only the ftraits of Magellan. And therefore, fince
providence, in the formation of the earth, has fo ordered
the matter, that the principal continents are, at fome place
or other, always joined together by fome little ifthmus, and
generally feparated by fome narrow fea ; and (what is fur-
ther to be obferved) iince moft of the capital iflands in our
part of the hemifphere, fuch as Sumatra in Afia, Mada-
gafcar in Africa, and England in Europe, are generally at
no great diftance from the continent ; we have fome rea-
fon to prefume, that there may poffibly be a certain neck
of land (though not as yet difcovered) which may join fome
part of Afia, or perhaps lbme part of Europe, to the main
continent of America. Or, if we may not be allowed the
fuppofition, yet (r) why might not there formerly have been
fuch a bridge (as we may call it) between the fouth-eaft
part of China, and the moft fouthern continent of this new
world, though now broken off (as (s) fome fuppofe England
to have been from France) by the violent concuffions of the
fea ; as indeed the vaft number of iflands which lie be-
tween the continent of China and Nova Guinea, (which are
the moft contiguous to each other), would induce one to
think, that once they were all one continued tract of land,
thotigh by the irruption of the fea, they are now crumbled
into fo many little iflands ?
The difference however between the inhabitants of
South and North America, is fo remarkably great, that
thex-e is reafon to imagine, they received colonies at firft
from different countries ; and therefore fome are of opi-
nion, that as the children of Shem, being now well verfed
in navigation, might, from the coafls of China, take pof-
feffion of the fouthern parts ; fo might the children of Ja-
phet, either from Tartary, pafs over the ftraits of Anien,
or out of Europe, firft pafs into Norway, thence into Ice-
land, thence into Greenland, and fo into the northern parts
of America : and this they think the more probable, be-
caufe of the great variety of languages which are obferved
among the natives of this great continent ; a good indica-
tion, as one would imagine, of their coming thither at dif-.
ferent times, and from different places.
(f) Patrick's Commentary, (s) Fid. The new general Atlas.
We
Chap III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 339
We indeed, according to the common forms of fpeech, a. M.
Cull thofe places iflands, which are, on every fide, iur- 1997, &fi
rounded by the fea ; but the Hebrews were wont to give ^™- clf^-
that name to all maritime countries, fuch as either hadfj-om'^^
feverallflands belonging to them, or fuch as had no iflands x. to the
at all, provided they were divided from Paleftine or from £nd ; ^nd
Egypt by the fea, and could not conveniently be gone tover IO' tJ
any other way. (t) Such are the countries of the LeiTer the end.
Alia, and the countries of Exirope, where the defcendents *«— y*—*
of Japhet were feated ; and that thefe are denoted by the Trifles of
IJles of the Gentiles *, might be evinced from feveral paral-
lel paffages in Scripture. At prefent we need only take no-
tice, that as the LefTer Ada was from Babel, the neareft,
place of Japhet's allotment, it is very probable, that he and
his fons continued there for fome time, till the increafe of
their progeny made them fend out colonies, which not on-
ly peopled the riles of the Mediterranean and ^Egean feas,
but palling into Europe, fpread themfelves farther and far-
ther, till at length they came to take poueflion of the very
ifland wherein we now live.
To this purpofe the writers on this fubject have made anA that of
it appear, that from their original country, which was England.
Alia Minor, they fent a colony to the Moeotic Lake, on
the north of the Euxine fea ; and as they were called
(/) Well's Geography of the Old Tellament, vol. r.
* Thus the prophet Ifaiah, (ch. xi. io. ir.) fpeaking of the
Calling of the Gentiles, and of the reftoration of the Jews, has
thefe words : The Lord fhall recover the remnant of his people
from 4ffyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cujh, Elam, b>hinar, Hamah,
and from the ifles of the fea : where, by the ifles of the fea.
(which is the fame with the ifles of the Gentiles) we muft necefla-
rily nnderftand fuch countries as are diftinct from the countries
which are here exprefsly named, viz. Affyria, Egypt, Sec. and
therefore moft Iik< ly the countries of LefTer Afia, and Europe.
The fmie propria, in order to lhcw God's omnipotency, fpeaks
in this manner ; Behold the nations are as a drop of the bucket,
and are counted as tie final! dujt of the balance ; behold he takes
np the ifles as a very litt.e thing, ch. xl. 15. Where, if by ides
we mean thofe which we call ftriclly fo, the comparifon of the
difparity is loft, becaufe thofe which we call ifles, are indeed
very little things ; and therefore the proper fignification of the
word, in this place, muft be thofe large countries which were
beyond the fea in regard to Egypt whence Mofes came, or Pa-
leftine whither he was now going; Well's Geography, vol. I.
p. 113.
Chnmerii
340 The Hiftory of the B I B.L E, Book II.
A. M Chmnerii in Afia, fo they gave the name of Bofphorus Cim-
%99i, &c- merius to the Straits we there meet with ; that after this,
Am. Chnf. folding farther, they fell down the Danube, and fettled in
XOot, ire. r t • i n i hi
from Gen. a country, which f from them was called Germany ; that from
x. to the Germany, they advanced ltiil farther, till they came into
end; and France> for the inhabitants of France, (as (u) Jofephus
ver. IOi' t0' tells us) were anciently called Gomorites; and that from
the end. France they came into ^he fouth part of Briton ;. and there -
'--"*»/—"•■' fore we find that the Welfh (the ancient inhabitants of this
ifle) call themfelves Kumcro, or Cymro, call a woman Kumc-
rciss, and the language they fpeak Kumeraeg ; which feve-
val words carry in them fuch plain marks of the original
name from whence they are derived, that if any regard is
to be had to etymologies in cafes of this nature, we cannot
forbear concluding, that the true old Britons, or Welfh, are
the genuine defcendents of Gomcr. Andiince it is obfer-
ved, that the Germans were likewife the defcendents of Go-
mer, particularly the Cymbri, to whom the Saxons, and efpe-
ciaily the Angles, were near neighbours, it will hence likewife
follow, that our anceftors, who fucceeded the old Britons *
in
\ The people of this country are called Germans, and they
call themfelves Gerwen, which is but a fmall variation, and ea-
i'y contraction for Gomerai, i. e Gomei ians : for the termina-
tion en is a plural termination in the German ' language ; and
from the fingle number Gomcr is formed Gemren, by the fame
analogy, that from brother we form brethren ; Weirs Geography,
vol. i. p. 127. ; and Bedford's Scripturs.Lhrcnology, L 2 c. 4.
(u) Antiq. 1. I.
* To (hew how the weffcern part of our blind came likewife to
be peopled, the abwe-cited author of Scripture- chronology fup-
pofes, that when Jofhua made his conquefts in the land of Ca-
naan, feveral of the inhabitants of Tyre, being ftruck- with the
terror of his aims, left their country, and being {killed in the
irt of navigation, failed into Africa, ami there built a city,
called Carthage, or the city, of the wanderer); as he interprets the
word; that the Syrians and Phoenicians being always ccnliderable
merchants, and now fettling in a place convenient for their pur-
pofe, began to enlarge their trade ; and coaling the fea-fhore
of Spain, Portugal, and France, happened at length to chop up-
on the illands called Cafderides, now the rflands of Stilly, where-
of he gives us adefcription from Strabo ; that having here fal-
len into a trade for tin and lead,, it was not long before they
difcovereci
Cliap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 341
in the eaftern part of this ifle, were in a manner defcended A. M.
from Gomer the firft fon of Japhet. An ''chX
Thus we fee, (x) that the plantations of the world by ^j ^"C
the fons of Noah, and their offspring, recorded by Mofesfrora'caa.
in this tenth chapter of Geneils, and by the infpired author x- to the
of the firft book of Chronicles, are not unprofitable fables, §jjj^jl
or endlefs genealogies, but a raoft valuable piece of hiftory, ver. 10. to
which diftinguifhes, from all other people, that particular the end.
nation, of which Chrift was to come ; gives light to fe- '
veral predictions, and other pafTages in the prophets ; fliews
us the firft rife and origin of all nations, their gradual in-
creafe, and fucceffive migrations, cities building, lands
cultivating, kingdoms riling, governments fettling, and ail
to the accompliihment of the divine benediction : (y) Be
fruitful,- and multiply, and rcplenifh the earth; and the
fear of you, and the dread of you, fhall be upon every other
creature.
DISSERTATION III.
Of the /acred Chronology, ' and profane Riftory, Letters,
Learning, Religion, and Idolatry, &c. during this period.
BEfore we enter upOn the hiftory of the world, as it is The diiTer-
delivered in fome Heathen authors, from the time £ "^^j1*
of the flood, to the calling of Abraham, it may not be faCredchre-
improper to fettle the facred chronology; and that the ra- nology.
ther becaufe the difference is very confiderable, (as appears
by the fubfequent table), according as we follow the com-
putation of the Hebrew text, of the Samaritan copies, or
of the Greek interpreters. But before we come to this,
we muft obferve, that in the catalogue which we refer to,
Mofes takes notice of no other branch of Noah's family,
but only that of Shem, and his defcendents in a direct line
to Abraham, and the different computations (z) relating
to them, may be beft perceived by the following table.
difcovered the land's end on the weft lide of Cornwall, and finding
the country much more commodious than Scilly, removed from
thence, and h ere made their fettlement. And this conjecture
he accounts more feafible, by reafon of the great affinity between
the Cornifh. language, and the ancient Hebrew or Phoenician ;
1. 2. c. 4. p. 195. *
(x) Millar's Church hiftory, ch. r. per. 2. (/) Gen. ix. I.
(r.) Other's Citron, fac. cap. 2.
V--.< .. r, 3 M New.
542
The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M.
1997) &c-
Ant. Chiif.
a 007, &c.
from Gen.
x. to the
end ; and
from ch. 1 1 .
ver. 10. to
the end.
j
After the flood
Shem was
Hcb.
.-•am. Sep. : Heb.
Sjufi,jSep j
Heb.
Sam.
Sep.'
7
1
2
j
500
500
Spoj
600
2, Arphaxad —
35
>3J
.35!
1
403
300J 330
438
0
Cainan — —
0
0
130
0
0
330
t
3 5alah — ■ —
i
3°
130 130
403
3°3
330
433
4Eber — —
34 134
J34
430
270
270
404
k , X 1
SJPekg — — j 3o| 130
130
209
109 209
331
<J:Reu — —
t
H '3'
131
207
107
207
139
T.Serug •— —
30
130
130
200
100
2CO
230
SjNahor — —
19
79
79
119
69
US
148
9
Terah the fa&erj 70
of Abran.
7C
70
205
US
20s
In all
1
Xf9,\ 94*
1071
\
Before (hey had
children.
After they had
children.
Before they 1
died.
--- Wgtt-
jnents for
and again
the LXX
computa-
ii?r>.
Now, whoever calls his eye into this table, may eafily
perceive, that except the variations which may poffibly
have been occasioned by the negligence of transcribers, (a)
the difference between the Samaritan and Septuagint chro-
nologv, is fo very fniall, that one may juftly fuipect, that
the former has been tranicribed from the latter, on purpefe
to fupply fome defect in its copy ; but that the difference
between the Greek and Hebrew chronology, is fo very great}
that the one or other of them mult be egregioufly w^ong ;
becauie the Septuagint do not only add a patriarch, named
Caihw, never mentioned in the Hebrew, and fo make eleven
generations from Shem to Abraham, inftead of ten ; but
in the lives of moif of thefe patriarchs, they infert 100.
years before they came to have children, i. e. they make
them fathers 100 years later than the Hebrew text does,
.though (to bring the matter to a compromife) they generally
deduct them again in the courfe of their lives.
On both fides have appeared men of great learning ; but
they who affert the caufe of the Septuagint, are not un-
itmindful to urge the teftimony of Sf Luke, who, (b) be-
tween Arphaxad and Salah, has inferted the name of Cai»
Ui) ShueUbrd'sCc£ne$ioii, vol I. 1. 3. {b) Chap. iii. 36-
nan.
Chap III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 343
nan, which (as he was *tri infpired writer) he could never A- ML
have done, had not the Septuagint been right, in correcting '^fJ'r^r
the Hebrew Scriptures : befides th it, the .numbers in the zoo?j ^-r.
Septuagint give time tor the propagation of m Lhkind, and from Gen.
feern to agree better u'ith the hlftory of the firft kinsdoins x' r,° ,
. . 9.. J ° can ; and
Of the wond. fsomch.n.
On the other hand, they who abide by the Hebrew vcr. 10. to
text, cannot think, that the authority of the Septuagint f1^™^
is fo facred, as their aiverfaries imigine. Upon exami-
nation, they find many things added, in ray tilings omit-
ted, and, through the whole, fo many faults aim oil: every
where occurring, " that were a man to recount them all,'"
as (c) St Jerom exprefTes it, " he would be obliged not only
*' to write one, but many books ;" " nor need we leek for
*'■ diftant examples of this kind," (tfj fkys Bochart, " lince
" this very genealogy is all full of anachronifms, vaitly dif-
*' fei*ent both from the Hebrew and the vulgar verfion."
Editions moreover there were of an ancient date,
which, in imitation of the Alexandrian manufcript, pre-
ferved by Origen in his Hexapla, had none of this infertion.
Both Phiio and Jofephus, though they make ufe of the
Septuagint verfion, know nothing of Cainan ; and Eufebius
and Africanus, though they took their accounts of thefe
times from it, have no fuch perlon among their poftdilu-
vians ; and therefore (e) it is highly reasonable to believe,
that this name crept into the Septuagint through the care-
ledhefs of fome tranl'criber, who, inattentive to what he
was about, inferted an antediluvian name (for fuch a per-
lon there was before the flood) among the poftdiluvians ;
and having no numbers for his name, wrote the numbers
belonging to Salah twice over.
Since therefore the Hebrew text, in all places where
we find Noah's poiterity enumerated, takes not the leafc
notice of Cainan, but always declares Salah to be the im-
mediate Ion and fucceflbr of Arphaxad ; (/) we rauft ei-
ther fay, that Mofes did, or that he did not know of the
birth of this pretended patriarch : if he did not, how came
the LXX interpreters by the knowledge of what Mofes,
who lived much nearer the time, was a diligent fearcher
.nio antiquity, and had the affiftance of a divine fpirit in
every thing he, wrote, was con fefledly ignorant of? I£Jie
did know it, what poffib i< d for his-ton-
(c; On Jeremiah, xvii. (./) Phaleg. 1. i.e.. 2. (*•) tl-i :
gersHtft uauiar. vol. 2. excr- 1. •(/) ShtftfclbriTs ConiM&k?n,
vol. I.-l. 2.
] M 2 celling
344 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II <
A. M. cealing it, efpecially when his infertion or omiflion of k
'997> ^'"- makes fu-eh a remarkable variation in the account of time
*os7 &c. frorn fhe flood to the call of Abraham ; unlefs he was
from Gtn. minded to impofe upon us by a falfe or confufed chrono-
x. to the logy, which his diftinct obfervation of the feries of the o-
firom ch" t^£1* generati°ns> anil his juft aflignment of the time which
ver. 10. to belonged to each, will not fuller us to think ?
die end. Rather therefore than impeach this fervant of God>
(who has this teftimony upon record, that (g) he was
faithful hi all his haufe), either of ignorance or ill-intent,
we why affirm (with Bochart and his followers) that St
Luke never put Cainan into his genealogy, (for as much as
f it is not to be found in fome of the belt manufcripts of
the New Teftament), but that fome tranferiber finding it
in the Septuagint, and not in St Luke, marked it down in
the margin of their copies, as an omiflion in the copies of
St Luke, and fo later copiers and editors finding it thus ia
the margin, look it at laft into the body of the text, as
thinking perhaps that this augmentation of years might
give a greater fcope to the rife of kingdoms, which other-
wife might be thought too fudden : whereas (if we will be-
lieve a very competent judge of this matter) " (h) Thofe
** who contend for the numbers of the Septuagint muft
" either reject (as fome do) the concurrent teftimony of
'■* the Heathen Greeks and the Chriftian fathers concern-
'* ing the ancient kingdoms of Affyria and Egypt, or muft.
" remove all thofe monarchies farther from the flood.
'.* Nor mull the teftimony of Varro be overlooked, which
" tells us, that there were but 1600 years between the firft
" flood and the Olympiads ; whereas this number is ex-
" ceeded feven or eight hundred years by the Septuagintvs
" account. Thefe, and feveral other confiderations, (fays
" he) incline me to the Hebrew numbers of the patriarchs
" generating, rather than to the Seventy's; becaufe, by
" the numbers of the Seventy, there muft be about 900
M years between the flood and the firft yearofNinus,
" which certainly is too much diftance between a grand-
" father and a grandchild's beginning to reign."
(g) Heb. iii. 2 .
-(- The ancient manufcripts of the Gofpels and A&s, both iii
Greek and Lai in, which Bcza prefenred to the univerfiiy of Cam-
bridge, wants it ; nor kit to be found in fome manufcripts which
Jkrchbifhrp Uiher, in hisChron. Sacr. p. 32. makes mention of;
Millar's Htfory cfthe church, ch. 1 . period 2.
(&) Bilhop Cumberland's Origin anii^uif. p. 177. &v.
Thu«
Ghap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 343
Thus it feems reasonable to fuppofe, that the interpola- A. M.
tion of the name of Cainan in the LXX's verfion might be An^Chrif
the work of fome ignorant and pragmatical tranfcriber : 2007, &c.
and in like manner, the addition and fubtracTibn of feve- from Gcn-
ral hundred years in the lives of the fathers before men- *j? 'J^
tioned might be effected by fuch another inftrument, (*)from'ch. n.
who thinking perhaps that the years of the antediluvian ver. 10. t»
lives were but lunar ones, and computing, that at this rate ^ e^_ t
the fix fathers (whofe lives are thus altered) muft have had — •"
their children at 5, 6, 7, 8 years old, (which could not
but look incredible), might be induced to add the 100
years, in order, to make them of a more probable age of
manhood at the birth of their refpecYive children. Or, if
he thought the years of their lives to be folar, yet ftill he
might imagine that infancy and childhood were propor-
tionably longer in men who were to live 7, 8, or 900 years,
than they are in us ; and that it was too early in their lives
for them to be fathers at 60, 70, or 8a years of age ; for
which reafon he might add the 1 00 years to make their ad-
vance to manhood (which is commonly not till one fourth
part of our days is near over) proportionable to what was
to be the ultimate term of their lives.
This feems to be the only method of reconciling the dif-
ference between the LXX verfion and the Hebrew text,
in point of chronology ; and now to proceed to what we
find recorded in profane hiftory during this period.
After the difperfion of nations, the only form of ea-, Pr?"
vernment that was m ule for iome time was paternal, when during this
fathers of nations were as kings, and the eldeft of families period,
as princes. But as mankind increafed, and their ambition
grew higher, the dominion which was founded in nature
gave place to that which was acquired and efcablifhed by
power.
In early ages, a fuperiority of ftrength or fiature was the The ercc-
moft engaging qualification to raife men to be kings and ti.on of
rulers. The Ethiopians (k) as Ariftotle informs us, made ^°z oms'
choice of the talleft perfons to be their princes; and though
Saul was made king of lirael by the fpecial appointment of
God, yet it appears to have been a circumflance not in-
coniiderable in the eyes *of the people, (/) that he was a
choice young man, and goodly ; and thai there was not a-
mong the children of IJrael a goodlier man than he. But
(/) Sbuckford's Connection, vol. r. lib. 5. ex Lud. Capelli,
Chron. facra. in apparatu Walton ad Bib], Polyglot, (k) Be
RcpuU. 1. 4. c. 4. (/) 1 Sara, ix. 2.
win en
346 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. when experience came to convince men, that other qualifi-
j$»97, &c. cations, befides itature and ftrength, were neceffary for the
Ant. Chnf. people's happinefs, they then chofe perfons of the greateft
from' Gen' wisdom and -prudence for their governors, (m) Some wife
i. to the and underftanding man, who knew beft how to till and cul-
end; and tivate the ground, to manage cattle, to prune and plant
v™m j o'"o fruit-trees, &c. took into their families, and promifed to
the end. provide for fuch as would become their fervants, and fub-
*— v-**-' mit to their directions. And thus, in continuance of time,
heads of families became kings ; their houfes, together with
the near habitations of their domeftics, became cities ,•
their fervants, in their feveral occupations and employ-
ments, became wealthy and confiderable fubjecls ; and the
infpectors and overfeers of them became minifters of ftate,
and managers of the public affairs of the kingdom.
In the firft beginning of political focieties, almoft every
town (as we may fuppofe) had its own king, (n) who,
more attentive to preferve his dominions than to extend
them, reftrained his ambition within the bounds of his na-
tive country; till difputes with neighbours, (which were
fometimes unavoidable), jealoufy of a more powerfulprince,
an enterprizing genius or martial inclination, ocealioned
thofe wars which often ended in the abfolute fubjection
of the vanquilhed, whofe poiTeffions falling into the pow-
er of the conqueror, enlarged his dominions, and both en-
couraged and enabled him to pufh on his conquefts by new
enterprizes.
The reign Nimrod was the firft man we meet with in Scripture who
«t" Ninirod. made invaiions upon the territories of others : for he dif-
poffeiTed Afhur, the fon of Shem, who had fettled himfelf
in Shinar, and obliged him to remove into AfTyria, whilft
himfelf feized on Babylon, and having repaired, and not a
little enlarged it, made it the capital of his kingdom.
A defer. (o) This city was iltuate on both fides of the river
don of Ba- Euphrates, having ftreets running from north to fouth, pa-
bylon. rallel with the river, and others from eaft to weft, f The
(»;) Shuckford's Connection, vol. 2. 1. 6. (») Juftin,
1. i. c. I. (o) Prideaux's Connection.
f It mud beobferved however, that all this compafs of ground
was not really built upon; for the houfes Itood at a conliderablc
diibnee, with gardens and fields interfperfed ;' fo that it was a
large city in fcjieme, rather than in reality ; Frideaax'j Connec-
t'wit part i, /. 2.
compafs.
Oiap. III. From the Flood to the Call of Abraham. o47
compais of the wall, which was furrounded with a vaffc ditch A- &.e
filled with water, was 480 furlongs, i. e. about 60 miles;/97!-,, .,
the height of it 350 feet, and the breadth fo vattly great, i007> ^c\
that carts and carriages might meet on the top of it, and from Gen.
pais one another without danger. Over the Euphrates*' l° th<:
(which cut the city into two equal parts from north tOfrom'ch.*iv
fouth) there was a Irately bridge, and at each end of thever. 10. to
bridge f a magnificent palace, the one of 4, and the other thcend-
of 8 miles circumference ; and belonging to the larger pa-
lace were thoie hanging gardens which had fo celebrated
a name among the Greeks. They were made in form of
a fquare of 400 foot on every fide, and were carried up a-
loft into the air in the manner of fereral large terrafTes,
one above another, till they came up to the height of the
walls of the city. They were fuflained by yaft arches
built upon arches, one above another, and ftrengthened
by a wall on every fide that was 22 feet thick ; and as they
wanted no plants or flowers fit for a garden of pleafure, fo
there are laid to have grown in them trees which were no
lefs than eight cubits thick in the body, and 50 feet in
height. Buf this', among other pompous things apper-
taining to this city, was the work of ages fubfequent to
Nimrod, and built by Nebuchadnezzar, to gratify his wife
Amytis, who being the daughter of Aftyages king of Me-
dia, and much pleafed with the mountainous and woody
parts of her own country, was defirous of having fomething
like it in Babylon.
From' the Aiiyrians this great and noble city came in-
to the hands of the Perfians, and from them into the hands
of the Macedonians. Here it was that Alexander the Great
died : but not long after his death, the city began to de-
cline apace, by the building of Seleucia, about 40 mile?
above it, by Seleucus Nicanor, who is faid to have erected
this new city in fpleen to the Babylonians, and to have
drawn out of Babylon 500,000 perfons to people it ; fo that
the ancient city was, in the time of Curtius the hiftorian,
lefTened a fourth part ; in the time of Pliny, reduced to
delegation ; in the days of St Jerom turned into a park,
wherein the kings of Perlia did uie to hunt ; and accord -
-f- The olJ palace (which was probably built by Nimrod)
flood on the esfl lidc of die river, End the new one (which w:u>
built by Nebuchadnezzar) exactly over againft it, on the welt
fide 5 PrideauXf ibid.
■
343 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. ing to the relation * of fome late travellers, is now reduced
A97'cvVto one tower onty> called the tower of Daniel, from
5.007, &c. whence may be feen all the ruins of this once vaft and
from Gen. fplendid city.
x" a? ^i ^ can hardly be imagined, that the firft kings were able,
from'ch. ir. either to make or execute laws with that ftriclnefs and
vcr. 10. to rigour which is neceffary in a body of men, fo large as
she end. to afforj numerous offenders : and for this reafon it
feems to have been a prudent inftitution in Nimrod, whea
his city of Babylon began to be too populous to be regu-
lated by his infpeclion, or governed by his influence, to f
lay
* Mr Reuwolf, who in 1574 parted through the place where
this once famous city (food, fpeaks of the ruins of it in the fol-
lowing manner. " The village of Elugo (fays he) is now fi-
*' tuate where heretofore Babylon of Chaldea flood. The harbour,
*' where people go aftiore, in order to proceed by land to the ci-
ei ty of Bagdad, is a quarter of a league diftant from it. The
u foil is fo dry and barren, that they cannot till it ; and fo naked,
" that I could never have believed that this powerful city, once
*( the mofl {lately and renowned in all the world, and fituated in
" the fruitful country of Shinar, could have flood there, had I
" not fee n, by the fituation of the place, by many antiquities of
" great beauty which arc to be feen round about, and efpcqally
** by the old bridge over the Euphrates, whereof fome piles and
** arches of incredible ilrength are (till remaining, that it cer-
** tainfy did fland there. The whole front of the village E-
" lugo is the hill upon which the caflle flood, and the ruins of
H its fortifications are flill vifible, though demolifhed. Behind,
" and fome little way beyond, is the tower of Babylon, which is
*' half a league diameter, but fp ruinous, fo low, and fo full of
" venomous creatures, which lodge in the holes they make in the
*( rubbhh, that no one durfl approach nearer to it than within half
'* a league, except during two months in the winter, when thefe
*< animals never ftir out of their holes " Calmet's Difl ternary. 4
•\ The cities which he founded are faid to be Erec, Accad,
and Calne. Erec was the fame that occurs in Ptolemy, under
the name of Atecca, and which is placed by him at the laft, or
mod fouthern turning of the common channel of the Tigris
and Euphrates. Accad lay northward of Erec, and very proba-
bly at the common joining of the Tigris and Euphrates. ^And
C;:lne (which is faid to be the fame with Ctefiphon) upon the Ty-
gris, about 3 miles diftant from Seleucia, and was for fome time
rhe capital city of the Parthians: for, that it was the fame
v;i,Lh Cttfiphon, feems to be confirmed by the country, r,'hich lies
aboot
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 349
lay :h-: foundations of other cities;, by which means hedif- A. M.
pofed-of great numbers of his people, and, putting them '957,,;"\.
under the direction of fucu deputies as he might appoint, '" " '"u"
brought their minds bydegreestoafenieofgovernne.it, from Gen.
until the beneficial ufe of it came to be experienced, and *• to the
the force and power of laws fettled and confirmed, lie is !? _J"
fuppofed to have begun his reign A. i\I. 1757, to have ver. I0' to'
reigned about 143 years, and to have died A. M. 1905. the end.
About the beginning of Nimrod 's reign, Amur, * one v-""" "V""- •*
of the dependents of Shem, being driven from Babel (as trlua'
moftfuppofe) by the invaiion of Nimrod, led his company
on the Tygris, and fo, fettling in 4.ilyr-ia, laid the lirft foun-
dation of Nineveh, which, in procefs of time, equalled 4 defcrJPr
even Babylon itfelf in bignefs. For, whereas we* obferveii uone? •
or Babylon, that it was in circuit 480 furlongs, (/>) the de-
fcription which Diodorus gives us of Nineveh, is, that it
was 150 furlongs, i. e. near 19 miles in length ; 90 fur-
longs, i. e. fomewhat above 1 1 miles in breadth ; and 4S0
furlongs, i. c. juffc 60 miles in circumference; and for this
about it, being Cha!o>:i;is, which is evidently derived from Chains
or Ch.dno, whereby we rind it called ia different parts of Scrip-
ture j Wells's Geography t vol. 1 c 5.
* Many authors have imagined that Nineveh was not bn It by
Amur, but by Nimrod him felt, becaufe they think it not likely
that Moles (hould give an account of the fettlement of one of the
fons of Shem, where he is exprefsly difcourfing ©f Ham's family;
and therefore tliey interpret (as the marginal note dirccb) Gen.
x. it. Out of th.it land we?it forth .ifbur, he, / e. Nimrod,
went forth into .-\uyria, which is the explanation that I have in
fome tneafure followed But others imagine, that Mofes is not
fo exactly methodic d, but that upon mentioning Nimrod and his
people, he might hint at a colony which departed from under his
government, though it happened to be led by a perfon of another
family: That the land of lihur and the land of Nimrod are men-
tioned as two dillincf countries inMicah v 6 ; and that if Nimrod
had built Nineveh, and planted Aflyria, Bibylon and Aflyria
would have been but one empire, nor could the one be»faul to
have conquered the other with any propriety : whereas we are
exprefsly toftl by Diodorus, that the .if/nans Conquered the Ba-
bylonians; and may thence inter, that b- fore ^ius united them,
Babylonia and Aflyria were two diitinct kingdoms', and ooi die
plantation of one and the fame founder ; Shttckford's Coiiksftioii,
vol. 1. A 4.
(/>) WVds's Seography.
V(- ' . T. 3 N- rea&a
3 5o The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. re-afon it is (q) called an exceeding great city of three days
1997. &c; journey, according to the common eftimation of 20 miles to
a ' vc'/a day's journey. And equal to the greatnefs was the
from Gen. ftrength of this city : for its walls were 100 feet high, and
x. to the -f0 vcrj broad, that three carts might go a-breaft on the
frtoorclriT toP °* them ; whereon were raifed 1 500 turrets, and each
ver. 10 to of them 200 feet high, andfo very ftrong, that the place
the end. was deemed impregnable, (r) till Nabopollafar, king of
'Babylon, having made an affinity with Aityages king of
Media, entered into a confederacy with him againft the Af-
fyrians, and hereupon joining their forces together, they
bdieged Nineveh, and after having taken the place, and
flain the king thereof, to gratify the Medes, they utterly
deitroyed that ancient city, and from that time Babylon
became the metropolis of the AiTyrian empire.
Such was the rife and fall of this great city, where
Alhur governed his fubjccls much in the fame manner as
Nimrod did his in Babylon : for as they increafed, he dif-
perfed them in the country, and f having built fome other
cities
(q) Jonah iii. 3. (r) Prideaux's Connection, vol. r.
•f The cities which Alhur is laid to have built, were Reho-
both, Referi, and Calah, The word Rehcboth in the Hebrew
tongue fignifies Jireets, and the facred hi dorian feems to have
added the word city, on pnrpofe to (hew that it was here to be
taken as a proper name. Now, as there are no footfteps of this
name in thefe parts, but a town there is by Ptolemy called Bir-
tha, which in th< Chaldee tongue denotes the fame as does
Rthoboth in the Hebrew, in an appellative or common accepta-
tion ; it is hence probably conjectured, that Rrhoboth and Birtha
are only two different names of one and the fame city, which
was feated on the Tigris, about the mouth of the river Lycus.
Referi is fuppofcd by molt learned men to be the fame city
which Xenophon mentions under the name of Larijfa, and that,
not only becaufe the fuuation of this Larifla well enough agrees
with the fuuation of Refen, as it is defcribed by Mofes lying be-
tween Nineveh and Calah ; but becaufe Mofes obferves, in the
fametext, that Rcfev "was a great city ; in like manner, as Xe-
nophon tells us, that Larifla, though then ruinated, had been a large
city, of eight miles circumference, with walls ico foot high,
and 25 foot broad And whereas Lariifa is a Greek name,
and in the days of Xenophon there were no Greek cities in Af-
fyria ; for this they account, by fuppoung, that when the Greeks
might; afk, What city thofe were the ruins of ? the Aflyrian?
might anfvver, Larefen, or of Refen, which Xenophon cxprelled by
I*rif&,
Chap III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 351
cities alone the Tigris, he there fettled them under the go- A- M;
b ,- , ? • & 1997, &e.
vernment or deputies or viceroys. Anf chrift.
Whilit Niairod and Aihur were fettling their people inioo7, &c.
their refpective countries, Mizraim, the fecond fon of Ham, trom Gen.
* and who, by Heathen writers, is constantly called Menes, *nd° ^
feated himfelf at fifft near the entrance of Egypt, and thercfrbmch. 1 r.
perhaps built the city of Zoan, which was anciently the v-r- '°- to
habitation of the kings of Egypt ; but from Zoan he re- tne c"^-
moved farther into the country, and took poiTeffion ©''of Menes.
thofe parts which were afterwards called Thebais, where
he built the city of Thebes, and (as Herodotus will have it)
the city of Memphis likewife. He x-eigned 62 years, and
died A. M. 1943.
Belus fucceeded Niinrod, and was the fecond king Of Belus.
of Babylon ; but whether he was related to his predecei-
for or not, is a thing uncertain. It feems moft likely,
that as Nimrod, though a young man in comparifon of
many then alive, was advanced, for fome merit or other,
to the regal dignity ; io when he died, Belus might appear
to be the moft proper perfon, and for that reafon was
appointed to fucceed him : for he is reprefented as a prince
of ftudy, the inventor of the Chaldean aftronomy, and
one who fpent his time in cultivating his country, and
improving his people. He reigned 60 years, and died
A. M. 1969.
Aihur, king of Nineveh, dying much about thisNinus.
time, Ninus became the fecond king of Aflyria, and
proved a man of an ambitious and enterprizing fpirit. Ba-
LarifTa, a name not unlike feveral cities in Greece. And laftly,
as to Calah, or Calach, fmce we find in Strabo a country, abuut
the head of the river Lycn.~, called Calaaheve, it is very probable
that the faid country took this name from Cakch, which was one
of the capital cities of ir. Ptolemy makes mention likcuile of a
country called Calacim in thefc- parts : And. whereas Pliny men-
tions a people called Clajftta, though whole country the Lycus
runs, there is fome reafon to fuppof. , that Paflitae ia a corruption
of CalachilK ; IVells's Geography , vol- I.
* The perfon whom Mi >fes calls Mizraim, is, by -Diode rus,
and other Heathen writers, commonly called menes ; by Syncel-
lus, Mejlralm. Menes is fuppofed to be the firft king of Egypt
by Herodotus, 1. 2.; by piodorus, L.'i.j by Eratofthenes and
Africanus from Manefho; by Eiifebius and Syncellus in Cbro.
Eufeb. ; and the time of Menes coincides very well with that of
Mofcs's Mizraim, as Sir John Mariham [in his Can. Chrcn. p. 2.]
has pretty clearly evinced ; £huckford's Conncilkn, vol.1. 1. 4.
3 N 2 Lvlonia
352 The Hiilory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. . by Ionia lay too near him, not to become die object of his
\997,rYr',dciiLC : and therefore, making all military preparations for
Ant. Chrif. , r . ' , . & . . -\ , . , ,
aoo7, e-c. tnat pm'poie, he invaded it ; and as its inhabitants had no
from Gen. great fkill in war, foon vanquished them, and laid them
X i° thSri unc^sr tribute. His fuccefs in this attempt made him be-
from'ch n.§'n to think of Subjecting other nations: and as one con-
ver. 10. to queft paved the way for another, in a few years he over-
the end. ran many of the infant ftates of Alia, and fo, by uniting
kingdom to kingdom, made a great acceffion to the Af-
fyrian empire. His laft attempt was upon Oxyartes, or
Zoroaftres, King of Bactria, where he met with a brilker
oppofitiori than he had hitherto experienced ; but at length,
by the contrivance and conduct of Semiramis, the wife of
one Memmon, a captain in his army, he took the capital,
and reduced the kingdom : but being hereupon charmed
with the fpirit and bravery of the woman, he fell in love
with her, and prevailed with her hufband (by giving him
his own daughter in lieu of Semiramis in marriage) to
confent to his having her for his wife. By her he had a
Ion named Ninyas ; and after a reign of 52 years, he died
A. M. 2017.
Ninyas was but a minor when his father died ; and
therefore his mother, who all along had a great fway in
the adminiftration of public affairs during her hufband's
lifetime, continued in the government with the f confent
and approbation of her Subjects. She removed her court
from Nineveh to Babylon, which ihe encompaffed with
the wall we mentioned before, and adorned with many
public and magnificent buildings ; and having thus finished
-f- Jiiftis, in his, hifbry of this woman, informs us, that
upon the death of her hufband, flie made ufe of the Stratagem
of perfonaiing her fon, to obtain the empire to herfelf: but
Diodorus, with more probability, afcribes her advancennnt to
her conduct, bravery, and magnanimous behaviour. When fhe
tool.: upon her to be queen, the public affairs were put in the
hands, to which Minus, when alive, ufed generally to commit
them ; and it is not likely that the people mould be uneafy at
htr governing, who had, for Several years together, by a feries
of actions, gained herfelf a great credit and afcendant over
them; efpecially if we cenfider, that when fhe took up the fo-
veriignty, fhe Hill pi effed forward in a courfe of actions which
continually exceeded the expectations of her people, and left no
room for any to be willing to difpute her authority ; bhuckftrd'f
■ \eft'iQpt vol. 1. /. 4.
&§
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham, 351
the feat of her empire, and fettled all the neighbouring A. M.
kingdoms under her authority, fhe raifed in army, with '5P7, <trc.
■ t r 1 \ r. l \ a Ant. Chnf.
an intent to conquer Indi l; but after a long and dangerous 2QO ^
war, being tired out with defeats, fhc was obliged, with from Gen.
the fmall remainder of her forces, to return home ; where, * to thc
finding herfelf in difgrace with her people, me refigned the £" ' J^ ,
crown and authority to her fon, after Ihe had reigned 42Ver. 10. to
years; and loon after died, A. M. 2059. the end.
Her fon Ninyas began his reign, full of a fenfe of *•— ""V— ^
the errors of his mother's administration, and engaged in ,n*
none of the wars and dangerous expeditions wherein fhe
had harralTed and fatigued her people : but though he was
not ambitious to enlarge his empire, (s) yet he took all
due care to regulate, and fettle upon a good foundation
the extenlive dominions which his parents had left him.
By a wife contrivance of annual deputies over his pro-
vinces, he prevented many revolts of diftant countries,
which might otherwife have happened ; and his taking up
that ftate of being difficult of accefs, (which was after-
wards much improved by eaftern monarchs), might perhaps
procure him a greater veneration from his fubjects. How-
ever this be, it is certain, that mod authors have repre-
fented him as a weak and effeminate prince, which might
naturally arife (without any other foundation) from his
fucceeding a father and mother who were rather too
active to enlarge their dominions, as well as from the dif-
polition in moll: writers, to think a turbulent and warlike
reign, if victorious, a glorious one, and to overlook an
administration that is employed in the filent, but more hap-
py arts of peace and good government.
In Egypt, Mizraim, after his death, had three fons, Tne kings
who became the kings of the feveral parts thereof. Ana-0 fEsyPt-
nim, or rather Anan, was king of the lower Egypt, or
Delta ; Naphtuhim, or Naph, of Middle Egypt, or the
country about Memphis ; and Pathrufium, or Patrus, of
the Upper Egypt, or the country of Thebais : and agree-
ably hereunto, from thefe three kings did thefe feveral
countries take their ancient denominations. Of the firft
of thefe, viz. Ananim, we have nothing remaining but
only his name and the time of his death : for after he
had reigned 63 years, according to Syncellus, he died
A. M. 2006.
(j) Piodorus Siculus, 1, 3.
Of
354 The Hiftcry of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. Of the fecond, viz. Naphtuhim, we are told, that he
1997, &c. was the author or the architecture of thefe ages ; had
Ant. Chnf. fome ufe£ul knowledge of phytic and anatomy ; and
fromGen. taught his fubjects (as he learned it from his brother Pa-
x. to the thrufium) the ufe of letters : for to this Pathrufium, (whom
end; and they call Thyotb), the Egyptians indeed afcribe the inven-
vc^io' to^on of all arts and fciences whatever. The Greeks called
the end. him Hermes, and Latins Mercurius ; and while his fa-
<— "V"1-* ther Mizraim lived, he is fuppofed to have been his fe-
cretary, and greatly affiftant to him in all his undertakings.
When his father died, he inftructed his brothers in all
the knowledge he was mafter of; and as for his own peo-
ple, he made wholefome laws for their government, fettled
their religion and form of worfhip, and enriched their
language by the addition of feveral words, to exprefs fe-
veral things which before they had no names for.
This is the beft account that we can give of the Babylo-
nian or Affyrian empires, and of the kings that ruled Egypt,
for fome ages next after the difperfion of mankind. Other
nations, no doubt, were fettled into regular governments
in thefe times : Canaan was inhabited rather fooner than
Egypt ; and (t) according to Mofes, Hebron, in Canaan,
was built feven years befoi-e Zoan in Egypt ; but as none
of thefe nations made any conliderable figure in the firft
ages, their actions lie in obfcurity, and muft be buried in
oblivion. The few men of extraordinary note, that were
then in the world, lived in Egypt and Affyria ; and for
this reafon, we find little or no. mention of any other
countries, until one of thefe two nations came to fend
out colonies, which by degrees pclifhed the people they
travelled to, and inftructed them in fuch arts and fciences,
as made them appear with credit in their own age, and
(as foon as the ufe of letters was made public) tranfmitted
their names with honour to pofterity.
Theufeand The knowledge of letters cannot have been of any
invention \ong ftanding among us Europeans, who are fettled far
from the firft feats of mankind, and far from the places
which the defcendents of Noah firft planted, " None of the
*f ancient Thracians," (u) fays iElian, " knew any thing
" of letters : nay, the Europeans in general, thought it dif-
" reputable to learn them, though in Afia they were held
" in greater requeft." The Goths, according to the ex-
(/) Numb. xiii. 22. (<v) Univerfal hiftory, 1. 8. c. 6.
prefs
Chap. Ill from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 355
prefs teftimony (x) of Socrates, had their letters and wri- A. M.
tinps from Ulphila, their bifhop, anno Dom. -370. The '997' frc'
n 1 • • j 1 • r i\^ i j- l', c ■ x. Ant. Chnf.
Sclavomans received theirs from Methodius, a philolopher, 100?) ^
about an. Dom. 856. The people of Dalmatia had theirs not from Gen.
till St Jerom's, and thofe of Illyria, not till St Cyril's days. *• t0 ^
The Latins (who were more early) received their let- £rom ™t x
ters (as moft authors agree) from the Greeks, and werever. 10. to
taught the ufe of them, either from fome of the fol-tkeend.
lowers of Peiafgus, who came into Italy about 158 years'
after that Cadmus came into Greece, or from the Arca-
dians whom Evander led into thofe parts, about 60 years
after Pelafgus.
Among the Greeks, the Ionians were the firft who
had any knowledge of letters ; and they, in all probabi-
lity, had them from the Phoenicians, who were the fol-
lowers of Cadmus, when he came into Greece ; but from
Avhom the Phoenicians had them, has been matter of fome
difpute. Many considerable writers have derived them
directly from Egypt, and are generally agreed, that Thyoth,1
or Mercury, was the inventor of them. In the early ages,
when mankind were but few, and thefe few employed in
the feveral contrivances for life, it could be but here and
there one that had leifure, or perhaps inclination, to ftudy
letters. Tho companies that removed from Babel, were
moft of them rude and uncultivated people : they fol-
lowed fome perfons of figure and eminence, who had
gained an afcendent over them ; and thefe perfons, when
they had fettled them in diitant places, and came to teach
them fuch arts as they were mailers of, had every thing
they taught them imputed to their own invention, becaufe
the poor ignorant people knew no other perfon that was
verfed and ikilled in them.
Though therefore the Egyptians had confeffedly the ufe
of letters very early among them ; and though their Thy-
oth, or Mercury, might be the firft who taught others their
ufe, and for that reafon be reputed the inventor of them ;
yet I cannot but think, that Noah and his fons, who had
learned them in the old world, taught them to their pofterity
in the new. For, iince mankind < ubiifted 1 600 years before
the flood, it is not very probable, that they lived all this
while without the ufe of letters. If they did, how came we
by the fhort annals which we have of the antediluvian ages ?
(v) Hut. Ecclcf. I. 4. c. 33.
But
356 The Hiflory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. But if they did not, it is not unlikely, that Noah, being well
*997'cj^f fkilled in the knowledge and ufe of them, might teach them
1007, &c. to his children : and if we purfue the inquiry, and afk
from Gen. from whence Noah attained his knowledge, the moil" pro-
* !? tllCj Per reply will be, that he had it from the inftruction of his
from ch.n.Parents> as h's parents might have it, in their fev^ral fuccef-
ver. 10. to lions from Adam, and as Adam might have it from God.
the end. And indeed, if we coniider the nature of letters, it
,*7""J*~ cannot but appear fomething ftrange, that an invention fo
originally furpriiing as that of writing is, ihould be found out in an
from God. age fo near the beginning of the world, ( v) Nature may
eailly be fuppofed to h-ave prompted men to fpeak, to try
to exprefs their minds to one another by founds and noifes ;
but that the wit of man fhouid, among its firft attempts,
find out a way to exprefs words in figures or letters, and
to form a method, by which they might expofe to view all
that can be faid or thought, and that within the compafs of
16, 20, or 24 characters, varioufly placed, fo as to form
fyllables and words ; that the wit of man, I lay, could
immediately and directly fall upon a project of this nature,
is what exceeds the moil exalted notions we can poflibly
form of his capacity ; and muft therefore remit us to God
(in whom are hid all the treafures of infinite wifdoin) for
the firft invention and contrivance of it.
The Jearn- j±s fOOI1 as the ufe 0f letters, whether of divine or hu-
cemmerce. man invention, came generally to be known, it is reafonable
to think, that all arts and fciences would from thence re-
ceive a powerful affiftance, and in procefs of time be-
gin to take root, and flourifh ; but this was a period a lit-
tle too early to bring them to any great perfection. (2) For
though Nbah and his fons had doubtlefs fome knowledge of
the inventions of the antediluvians, and probably acquaint-
ed their deicendents with fuch of them as were moft ob-
vious and ufeful in common life ; yet it cannot be imagined,
that any of the more curious arts, or lpeculative fciences,
were improved to any degree (mppoiing them to be knoy/n
and invented) till fame conilderable time after the difper-
lion. On the contrary, one confequence of that event feems
to have been this — —that feveral inventions, known to their
anceilors, were loir, and mankind gradually degenerated
into ignorance and barbarity, till eafe and plenty had given
( ) Sbu. kford's Connection, vol. 1. 1. 4. (2) Univerfal
hiflory, I 1. c. 2.
thena
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 357
them leifure to polilh their manners, and to apply them-vl A. M.
felves to fuch parts of knowledge as arc feldorri brought to ' *>£>'/,' fc>
r n. 1 1 • i,^ Ant. Chnf.
perfection under other circumuances. 2007 ^
The inhabitants of Babylon indeed are fuppofed to have from Gen.
had a great knowledge in aftronomical matters, much a- x- to thc
bout this time ; (0) for when Alexander thc Great took^^^ Jt
poiTeffion of that city, Callifthenes the philolbpher, whoVer. 10. to
accompanied him, upon fearching into the treasures of the ^nc erifl.
Babylonian learning, found, that the Chaldeans had aleries'
of oblervations for 1903 years backwards from that time ;
i. e. from the i 771ft year of the world's creation forwards.
But this is a notion that we have already confuted ; as in-
deed the nature of the thing will teach us, that upon the
firft fettlement in any country, a nation could not but find
employment enough (at lealt for fome ages) in cultivating
their lands, and providing themfelves houfes* and other
neccfTaries, for their mutual comfort and fubliileiice.
Ninus and Semiramis are fuppofed to have improved
vaftly the arts of war and navigation about this period :
■ for * we read of armies, confuting of lome millions of
horfd
(a) Simplicius de Coelo, 1. 2. com. 46.
• The hiltory of the Affyrian empire, as we have it in Diodoras
Siculus, 1. 2. c. 1. — 22. and in Jnftin, 1. 1. c. 1. 2. is in the fub-
ftance of it, to this effect The firft who extended this em-
pirc, was Ninus, who bring a warlike prince, ?.nd defiring to do
great things, gathered together the ftouteft men in the country, and
having trained them up to the nfe of arms, entered into an alliance
with Ariasus King of Arabia, by whofe affiftance he fubdued thc
Babylonian*, and mipofed a tribute on them, after he had taken their
King captive, and killed him, with his children. Then having
entered Armenia with a great army, and deftroyed feveral cities,
he fo terrified the reft, that King Baizanes fubmitted to him. After
this, he vanquished Pharnus King of Media in battle ; crucified
him and his wife, and feven children ; and in the fpacc of feven-
tccn years, overcame all Alia, except India and Bactria ; but no
author declares the patticulars of his victories. Of the maritime
provinces, he fubdued, according toC'tcfias, whom we follow, (fays
Diodorus) Egypt, Phoenicia, the Lower Syria., Cilicir»5 I'amphy-
lia, Lycia ; and befides thefe, Cari;;, the Phiygias, l.;-du, Mylia,
Troas, together with the Propcntis, Bifhynia, Cappadocia, r.nd
all the barbarous nations, as far as theTanais ; with Perfia, Sufi-
ana, Cafpiana, and many other nations that we need not here enu-
merate. From this laft expedition, as foon as he remrncd, lie bulk
a city, which he called by his own name, Nbms, not far from th'.-
river Euphrates; and being afterwards ( :au-
Vol. I. qO
358 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. horfe and foot ; and of fleets, and gallies, with brazen
it,??, &c. beaks, to traniport the forces over a river only, to the
xo " £c' number of two thoufand : but all that narration of Diodo-
from Gen. rus and Juftin, as it is acknowledged to be taken from Ctefias,
x. to the (whom f all the beft critics of antiquity look upon as aa
vcr. 10. to
the end. ty and valour of a woman of uncertain birth, named Semiramis,
he took her to .wife, and by her advice and direction governed all
things with fuccefs. For having gathered together an army of fe-
venteen hundred thoufand foot, and two hundred and ten thoufand
horfe, and fix hundred thoufand chariots, (numbers incredible in
thofc days!), with thefe he advanced againft Oxyartes, Kingof
Baclxia, who met him with an army of four hundred thoufand
men : but the Bactrians being defeated, and their capital, by the
valour and direction of Semiramis taken, (he was thereupon ad-
vanced to the honour of being made queen, which occafioned her
hufband to hang himfelf. After Ninus had thus fettled his affairs
in Bactria, his wife Semiramis had a fon (whom he named Ninyas)
and not long after died, leaving the admin if Iration of the kingdom
in his wife's hands ; who, to raife her own glory, built a {lately
monument for her deceafed hufband j built the city of Babylon, and
other remarkable places; and then, having brought Egypt, Ethio-
pia, and Libya, all the way to the temple of Jupiter Hammon,
under her jurifdiction, returned into Afia ; where fhe had not been
long, before hearing that Stabrobates, or Staurobates, Kingof In-
dia, governed a rich country, (lie refolved to take it from him. To
this purpofe fhe prepared a great army and fleet : but being told
what mighty elephants there were in India, in order to have fome-
thinglike them, fhecaufed three hundred thoufand hides of oxen to
be dreiTed, and Huffed with ftraw, under which there was a camel
to bear the machine, and a man to guide it, which at a diftance
made a kind of rcfemblance of thefe vaft creatures. Her army
confuted of three millions of foot, one million of horfe, and an
hundred thoufand chariots ; of an hundred thoufand of thofe that
fought on camels ; of two hundred thoufand camels for the bag-
gage ; and two thoufand gallies, with brafen heads, to tranfport
her army over the river Indus. But all this mull be falfe and fa-
bulous ; becaufe it is incredible to think, either that her own
country fhould fuppiy, or that the country whereinto (he was
marching, fhould be able to fuffain fuch an immenfe number of
men, and other creatures, as are here related : befides that, it
is falfc in fact, that the kings of AfTyria ever governed all Afia,
or ftretched their conquefts over Egypt and Lybia; Miller 's Hi-
fi ory of the church, ch. i.part^.
f This Ctefias was a native of Cnidus, and phyfician to Ar»
taxerxes Mnemnon. He wrote a Perfian hiftory in three and
Sweaty books, of which there remain only a few fragments, pre-
ferved
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. ^59
author deferving no credit), may very juftly be accounted A. M.
falfe and fabulous. And though it cannot be denied, that '99 7, &«•
tke invention of fhipping, which was not before the flood, i00c' ™ "
(for had it been before, more than Noah and his family from Gen.
might have faved themfelves from the waters), is a great ftep x- to the
towards the improvement of commerce ; yet as the difper- 5 ' .
fion of mankind made it more difficult to trade with na- Ver. io. to
tions who fpake a different language, fo the method the end.
whereinto we may fuppofe they entered at firft, extended '"""""V"-'
no farther than this : ■ That the colonies, who planted
new countries, not only perceiving their own wants, from
the conveniencies they had left behind them, but finding
likewife fomething ufeful in their fettlements, which were
before unknown to them or their founders, fetched what
they wanted from the parts where they formerly dwelt, and,
in exchange for that, carried what they had difcovered in
their new plantations thither ; and this feems to have given
the firft rife to traffic and foreign trade, whofe gradual
advances we may have occafion to take notice of hereaf-
ter. In the mean time, we ihall conclude this book, and
this chapter together, with an account of the religion
which at this time obtained in the moft famous nations of
the world ; and obferve withal, by what means it came to
degenerate into idolatry, and other wicked and fuperftitious
practices.
Now, betides the common notion of a God, which The relig:-
men might either learn from tradition, or collect by their011 of tlic
Own reflection, the very hiftory of the deluge, which hadancIeQt3,'
not fo long ago befallen the world, could not but inftruct
and confirm the generations we are now treating of in
feveral articles of their religion. If they had the account
of this remarkable judgment tranfmitted to them in all its
circumftances, they could not but entertain thefe concep-
tions of God : That he takes cognizance of the things
ferved by Photius ; but very valuable authors, who have {em
Ctefias, when perfect, give him no commendable charach r. Plu- '
tarch (in Artaxerxes) calls him a fabulous vain man, and a great
liar. A. Gellius (Nodes Attics, 1. 9. c. 4.) reckons him among
the fabulous writers ; and Ariftotle (in his Hiftoria animalium)
fays, that he was an author who deferves no credit ; as indeed,
if we will judge either by the incredible things in his ftory, or
by what he fays of the Indian and Perfian affairs, in his frag-
ments that remain, we fhall have reafon to conclude, that theft.-,
great men have not given him this character without good grounds;
MUier's Hifo'jf Hid.
q O 2 which
36o The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. vrhich are-done hear on earth ; that he is a lover of virtue,
1997, &c. and a fevere puniiher of vice ; that he is infinite in power,
Ant. Chni. ^ commanding the winds and rains, feas and elements,
from' Gen. to execute his will ; that he is likewife infinite in mercy,
x. to the in forewarning the wicked of their ruin (as he did the old
end ; and \y<>i?l<i) feveral years before its execution ; and that there*
ver. 10. to^*01'6 a DemS of fuch a nature and difpolition was to be fer-
the end. ved, and worfhlpped, and feared, and obeyed. So that the
Turn of religion, in the ages fubfequent to the flood, even
to the promulgation of the law, mult have confided in the
belief of a Gad, and his facred attributes; in the devout
worfhip of him, by the oblation of prayers and praifes, and
fuch facrifices as he himfelf had inftituted ; and in the ob-
fervance of thofe eternal rules of righteoufnefs, of judice
and mercy, of fobriety and temperance, 6r. which, if
not exprefsly delivered to the fons of Noah, were neverthelefs
deduciblc troin the nature of things, and the relations
wherein mankind itood toward one another.
And now, if we look into the principal nations which
were at this time exiding, we mall find, that (b) the Per--
flans above all other people, were remarkable for having
amongd them a true account of the Creation of the world,
and its dedruclion by water, which they flricHy adhered
to, and made the foundation of their religion ; nor have
we any reafon to think, but that they were for fome
time very zealous profeilors of it, though by degrees they
came to corrupt it, by introducing novelties, and fancies
qf their own, into both their faith and practice : We
fh ill And, (r) that many of the Arabians preferved the true
worfhip of God for ieveral ages, whereof Job (who per-
haps lived in the days now under coniideration) was a me-
morable inftance ; as was likewife Jethro, the pried of Mi-,
dian, in the days of Mofes : we ihall find, that the Ca-
naanit :s of old were of the fame religion with Abraham ;
for tho? he travelled up and down many years in their coun-
try, yet was he v..inecled by the inhabitants of it, as a per-
fon in great favour with God ; and Melchifedeck, the king
of Salem, who was the pried of the mod high God, and
confeqikehHy of the fame religion, received him with this
addr-efs ; (d) Bkjfcd be Abraham, ferva,nt of the mcji high
Ccd, pqfejbr cf heaven and earth: we fhall find, from
Abimelech's prayer, r.pon his receiving intimation, that Sa?
jrah was Abraham's wife, that among the Philidines there
{') Hyde's Rciig. vet. Perfarum, c 3. (c) Shuckford's Con-
>;i, vol. 1. 1. 5. (d) Gen. xiv. 19.
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 361
were fome true worfhippers o? the God of heaven ; (e) A- M-
Lord, Wilt thoujlay a righteous nation ? Said he not unto me, l^ chrT
jhe is my fijler ; andjhe, even floe her [elf, [aid, he is my />ro-3.007t fyc.
ther : in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands from Gen.
have I done this : we (hall find that the Egyptians allowed *' J* ^
no mortal creature to be a god ; profefled to worfhip no-tVomch.ir.
thing but their god Cneph, (/) whom they affirmed to bever. 10. to
without beginning, and without end ; and though, inthetheend'
mythologic times, (g) they reprefented this deity by the M
figure of a ferpent, with the head of an hawk in the middle
of a circle, yet they affirmed at the fame time, that the
God whom they thus reprefented was the creator of all
things, a being incorruptible and eternal, with feveral o-
ther attributes becoming the divine nature : In fhort, wc
fhall find, that all the nations then known in the world,
not only worshipped the fame God, whom they called the
maker and creator of the univerfe, but worJhipped him like-
wife in the fame form and manner ; that they had all the
like facrifices, either expiatory, to make atonement for
their fins ; precatory, to obtain favours from Almighty
God; propitiatory, to avert his judgments ; or eucharifli-
cal, to return thanks for his extraordinary mercies ; and
mat all thefe facrifices were every-where offered upon al-
tars, with fome previous purifications, and other ceremo-
nies to be obferved by the offerer : So that religion, in e-
very nation, for fome time after the flood, both in prin-
ciple and practice, was the fame, till fome bufy and prag-
matical heads, being minded to make fome improvements,
(as they thought), added their own (peculations to it, and
io both deftroyed its uniformity, and introduced its cor-
ruption.
When this corruption of religion was fir ft introduced, And idola-
is not fo eafy a matter to determine, becaufe neither f acred ^ of thd*c
nor profane hiftory have taken any notice of it. Thofe^?,wheG
(h) who account idolatry one of the fins of the antedilu-
vian world, fuppofe that Ham, being married into the
wicked race of Lamech, retained a ftrong ^fi^ation for
fuch a falfe worfhip; and that after he wa^B B> by his
father Noah, and Separated from the poflc^ Bf Shem,
he loon fet it up. Thofe (i) who imagine that^be tower
of Babel was a monument intended for the honour of the
Am, which had dried up the waters from off the face of
(;) Gen. xx. 5. (/*) Plutarch de Hide et Oiiride, p. 559.
(g) Eiifebius's Praep. Evan. 1. 1. c. 10. (h) Bedford's Scrip-
-cbrciiobgy, 1. 2. c. 6. (/') VH. Tenniion of idolatry.
the
3 62 The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. m. l^e earth, muft fuppofe, t'-.at the worfhip of that planet
1.997, &r. began whilft the remembrance of the deluge was frefh in
Ant. Cam. mens minds : but thofe (k) who are of opinion that
from'Gen. t^ie difference of mens dialects, and the difference of
x. to the their fentiments concerning God, might not improperly
end ; and commence together, muft date the firft inftitution of ido-
fromch.ir.ja not a great deal lower than the time of the dif-
ver. 10. to <, °
the end. periion.
C— v— <J (/) The generality of Chriftian fathers, as well as
oriental writers, are pofitive in their affertions, that the firft
appearance of idolatry was in the days of Serug ^ " Be-
" caufe, as Enoch, fay they, was the feventh from Adam,
" in whofe time the general impiety, before the flood,
" is faid to have began ; fo Serug being in like manner
" the feventh from Noah, lived at a proper diftance for
" fuch a corruption of religious worfhip to be introduced,
" and grow." But this is a reafon too trifling to be taken
notice of : nor can -I fee (fays our learned Selden) (m)
how they can be able to maintain their opinion, who de-
termine fo peremptorily concerning a matter of fo diftant
and uncertain a nature.
But whatever the date of idolatry might be, it is cer-
tain that it had its firft birth, not in Egypt, (as fome have
maintained), but in Chaldea, as the Molt Reverend author
of the Treatife of Idolatry has evinced ; (n) and that, be-
caufe in the days of Abraham we find all other nations and
countries adhering to the true account of the creation
and deluge, and worfhipping the God of heaven, accor-
ding to what had been revealed to them ; whereas the
Chaldeans had fo far departed from his worfhip, and were
fo zealous in their errors and corruptions, that upon A-
braham's family refufing to join with them, they expelled
them their country, and (0) cajl them cut from the face of
their gods.
Celeftial The Chaldeans indeed, by reafon of the plain and eafy
bodies the fituation of their country, which gave them a larger pro-
firft idols infpeft ofjlgtheavenly bodies than thofe who inhabited
epcryco«m-mountayj fcaces, had a great conveniency for aftrono-
mical obflH ^>ns> an^ accordingly, were the firft people
who toojk-ITny great pains to improve them. And as they
(k) Cyril. Alex, contra Julian. I. r. (/) Heidegger's Hilt,
patriar. vol. 2. exer. 1. (*») De Diis Syris, prolcg- 3.
(«} ShuckforJ's Connection, vol. 1. 1. 5. (0} Judith v, 8.
wer$
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 363
were the firft aftrologers ; (p) fo learned men have obfer- A. M.
ved, that lying on the ground, or elfe on flat roofs, all 'S?V» &f-
night, to make their obfervations, they fell in love with ™" ,.
the lights of heaven, which, in the clear firmament of thole from Gen.
countries, appeared fo often, and with fo much luftre ; x- to the
and perceiving the conftant and regular order of their mo- ™ ' cj"
tions and revolutions, they thence began to imagine, thatVer. io. to
they were animated with fome fuperior fouls, and there- the end.
fore deferved their adoration ; and as the fun excelled all'
the reft, fo the generality of learned men have, with good
reafon, imagined, that thft bright luminary was the firft i-
dol in the world.
Among the Egyptians, (q) Syphis, king of Memphis,
was- the firft who began to fpeculate upon fuch fubjecls.
He examined what influence the fun and moon had upon
the terreftrial globe ; how they nourished and gave life
and vigour to all things ; and thereupon, forgetting what
his anceftorsdiad taught him, viz. that in the beginning
God created the heavens, as well as the earth, the fun
and moon, as well as the creatures of this lower world,
he concluded, that they were two great and mighty
deities, and accordingly, commanded them to be worihip*
ped.
The Perfians perhaps (r) were never fo far corrupted, as
to lofe entirely the knowledge of the fupreme God. They
faw thofe celeftial bodies running their courfes, as they
thought, day and night, over all the world, and reviving
and invigorating all the parts and products of the earth ;
and though they kept themfelves fo far right, as not to
miftake them for the true God, yet they imagined them to
be his moft glorious minifters : and not taking care to keep
ftriclly to what their forefathers had taught them, they
were led away by their own imaginations to appoint an ido-
latrous worfhip for beings that had been created, and by
nature were not gods.
What kind of idolatry was current among ' the Ca-
naanitcs, Mofes fufficiently intimates in the^|aution he
gives the Ifraelites, juft going to take poflefiloSfef. -it, viz.
that (j-) when they lifted up their eyes to heavetl,' and faixt
the. fun, and moon, and ftars, even all the hojl of heaven y
they fhould not, as the inhabitants of the country were,
(/>) Tennifon of idolatry, {q) Diodorus, I. r. (r) Ifydc'a
Relig. vet, Pcrfarum, c. t. {') Dcut. iv. 19.
be '
364 - The Hiftory of the BIBLE, Book II.
A. M be driven to worfhip, and to ferve them : and that this was
j 997, &c. the cuftomary worfhip among the Arabians, the juftifica-
a^o &c t*on which Job makes of himfelf is a fufficient proof; (t)
from Gen. If I beheld the fun when it fhined, or the moon walking in
x. to the brightness, and mine heart hath been fccretly enticed, or my
end; and mouffr fraifr kiffed my hand, i. e. if with devotion of foul,
ver. 10. to or pvofeffion of outward refpecl:, I have worfhipped thofc
the end. heavenly bodies, which, by their height, motion, and
^— 'mVmmJ luftre, attract the eye, and ravifh the fenfes, this alfo were
an iniquity to be punifhed by the judges ; for then I Jhould have
■denied the God that is above. And therefore the account
(u) which the Greek hiftorian gives us of the origin of this
kind of idolatry, is more than probable, viz. that the moll:
ancient inhabitants of the earth (meaning thofe who lived
not long after the flood, and particularly the Egyptians)
contemplating on the world above them, and being afto-
nifhed with high admiration at the nature of the univerfe,
believed that there were two eternal gods, the fun and the
moon ; the former of which they called Ofiris, and the lat-
ter If.s : fince, of later years, upon the difcovery of Ame-
rica, though many different idols were found in different
places, yet as for the fun, it was the univerfal deity, both
in Mexico and Peru.
Their great But whatever the firft idol might be, it foon multiplied
multiplicity }nto fuch a prodigious number, as to fill both heaven and
ot idoL. eartn ^h its progeny ; infomuch that there are not three
parts of the creation, but what, in one nation or other,
had theii: worfhippers. (x) They worfhipped univerfal
nature, the foul of the world, angels, devils, and the
fouls of men departed, either feparate and alone, or in
union with fome ftar, or other body. They worfhipped
the heavens ; and in them both particular luminaries and
conftellations ; the atmofphere ; and in it the meteors
and fowls of the air ; the earth, and in it beafts, birds,
infects, plants, groves, and hills, together with divers
fofiils and terreftrial fire. They worfhipped the water;
and in iL the fea and rivers ; and in them fifhes,
ferpents, Srel infects, together with fuch creatures as live
in either element. They worfhipped men, both living and
dead : and in them the faculties and endowments of
(/) Job xxxi. 26. 27. (ft) Diodorus Siculus, 1. r.
(-v) Tepnifon of idolatry,
the
Chap. III. from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 36 A
the foul, as well as the feveral accidents and conditions of A. M.
life. Nay, they worshipped the images of animals, even1 99 7, «^.
the moft hateful, fuch as ferpents, dragons, ci'ocodile:;, ^ c^"f>
&c. and defcended at laft fo low, as to pay a religious re-f10m'Gea',
gard to things inanimate, herbs and plants, and the moft'*. to the
ftinking: vegetables. end; and
TT ° ° • 1 1 v • r 1 • rromch. 11.
How men came to part with the religion of their ance- vcr I0 to
ftors for fuch trafh, and (y) to change the glory of the incor-.the end.
ruptible God into the image of corruptible man, and birds, ^— ~ v— — '
and four-footed beafls, and creeping things, the Apoftle, °T,
who remonftrates to the indignity, has in fome meafure to fall into
fuppljed us with a reafon, when he tells, that this ftate of this (late,
things, how grofs and ftrange foever it was, was introduced
under the pretences of wifdom, or by men profeffing to be
wife.
It was the wife amongft them that formed the defign ;
and, addrefling to the multitude, with a grave appearance,
prevailed {as we may conceive) by fome fuch form of ar-
guing as this, (z) " We are all aware, ye fons of Noah,
" that religion is our chief concern ; and therefore it well
" becomes us to improve and advance it as much as pof-
<r fible. We have indeed received appointments from God
" for the worfhip which he requires ; but if thcfe ap-
" pointments may be altered for his greater glory, there is
" no doubt but that it will be a commendable piety fo to
r< alter them. Now our father Noah has inftructed us in
" a religion, which, in truth, is too fimple, and too
li unaffecting : It directs us to the worfhip of^pd, ab-
" ftractedly from all fenfe, and under a confufecHpotion ;
" under the formality of attributes, as power, goodnefs,
" juftice, wifdom, eternity, and the like ; an idea fo-
" reign to our affections, as well as our comprehenfions :
" whereas, in all reafon, we ought to worfhip God
" more pompoufly, and more extenfively, and not only to
" adore his perfonal and effential attributes, but likewife
" all the emanations of them, and all thofe creatures by
" which they are eminently reprefented. Nor can this
" be any derogation from his honour, fince his honour is
" certainly more amply expreffed, when in this manner
" we acknowledge, that not only himfelf, but all his crea-
" tures likewife, are adorable. We ought therefore (if
" we will be wife) to worfhip the hoft of heaven, bet
(>) Rom. i. 22. 23. (2) Young's Sermons, vol. 2.
fcrm. 1.
Vol. I. 3 |> « caufc-
The Hiftory of the B IB L E, Book II.
caufe they are eminent repreferttations of his glory and
eternity : we ought to worfhip the elements, becaufe
they reprefent his benignity and omniprefence : we ought
to worlhip princes, becaufe they fuftain a divine charac-
ter, and are the reprefentatives of his power upon earth a
we ought to worfhip men famous in their generation,
even when they are dead, becaufe their virtues are the
diftinguifhing gifts and communications of God : nay,
we ought to worfhip the ox and the fheep, and what-
" ever creatures are moft beneficial, becaufe they are the
" fymbols of his love and goodnefs ; and with no lefs rea-
" fon, the ferpent, the crocodile, and other animals that
" are noxious, becaufe they are the fymbols of his awful
" anger."
This feems to be a fair opening of the project • and by
fome fuch cunning harangue as this, we may fuppofe it
was that the firft contrivers of idolatry drew in the ignorant
and admiring multitude. And indeed, confidering the na-
tural habitude of vulgar minds, and the ftrong inclinations
they have, in matters of an abftrufe conftderation, to help
themfelves by fenfifcle objects, it feems not fo difficult a talk
to have drawn -them in.
The mo- Thofe whogAvorfhipped univerfal nature, or the fy-
en&ged &em °^ the mtf&erial world, perceived firft, that there was
jacnln it. excellency in the feveral pai'ts of it, and then (to make
up the grandeur and perfection of the idea) they joined them
altogether in one divine being. Thofe who laboured under a
weaknejtond narrownefs of imagination, diftributed nature
into itaSreral parts, and worfhipped that portion of it which
was a counted of moft general ufe and benefit. Ufefulnefs
was the common motive, but it was not the only motive
which inclined the world to idolatry: for, upon farther in-
quiry, we fhall find, that whatever ravifhed with its tranfeend-
ent beauty, whatever affrightened with its malignant power,
whatever aftonifhed with its uncommon greatnefs ; what-
ever,- in fhort, was beautiful, hurtful, or majeftic, became
a deity, as well as what was profitable for its ufe. (a)
Tiie fun, men foon perceived, had all thefe powers and
properties united in it : its beauty was glorious to bejaold ;
its motion wonderful to confider ; its heat occafioned dif»
ferent effects ; barrennefs in fome places, and fruitfulnefs
in others ; and the immenfe globe of its light appeared
highly exalted, and riding in triumph, as it were* round
|
\ (0) Tennifon of idolatry.
the.
Chap III from the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 367
the world. The moon, they faw, fupplied the abfence of A. M.
the fua by night; gave a friendly light to the earth ; and, lJP91,Jr^'r
befides the great variety of its phafes, had a wonderful in- aoHo^ ^
fluence over the fea, and other humid bodies. The ftars from' Gen.
they admired for their height and magnitude, the order of *• to the
their pofitions, and celerity of their motions, and tnencefron1;ciinir>
were perfuaded, either that fome celeftial vigour or other ver. I0. t^
reiidcJ in them, or that the fouls of their heroes and great the end.
men were tranflated into them when they died ; and upon '*— - V— -^
thefe, and fuch like preemptions, they accounted all ce-
leftial bodies to be deities, (b) The force of fire, the fe-
renity of air, the ufefulnefs of water, as well as the terror
and dreadfulnefs of thunder and lightning, gave rife to the
confecration of the meteors and elements. The fea, fwel-
ling with its proud furface, and roaring with its mighty bil-
lows, was fuch an awful fight, and the earth, bedecked
with all its plants, flowers, and fruits, fuch a lovely one,
as might well affect a Pagan's veneration ; when for the
like motives, viz. their beneficial, hurtful, delightful, or
aftonifhing properties, beafts, birds, fifties, infects, and
even' vegetables themfelves, came to be adored.
Tjxe pride and pomp of the great, and the low and ab- The rife of
ject fp1vits;t)f the mean, occafioned firft the flattery, arid*?*2e-wor"
then the worfhip of kings and princes as gods upon earth. "■ '
Men famous for their adventures and exploits, the found-
ers of nations or cities, or the inventors of ufeful arts and
Sciences, were reverenced while they lived, and, after death,
canonized. The prevailing notion of the foul's immortality
made them imagine, that the fpirits of fuch excellent per-
sons, either immediately afcended up into 4ieaven, and fet-
tled there in fome orb or other ; or that they hovered in
the air ; whence, by folemn invocations, and by making
fome ftatue or image refemblant of them, they might be
prevailed with to come down and inhabit it.
Whether the idolatry of- image-worfhip was firft be-
gun in Chaldea or in Egypt, we have no grounds from
hiftory to determine : but where-ever it had its origin, the
defign of making ftatues and images at firft was certainly
fuch as the author of the book of Wifdom [c] has repre-
fented it, viz. to commemorate an abfent or deceafed friend,
or to do honour to fome great man or fovereign prince ;*
which (whether fo intended or no at firft) the ignorance
[f-(h) Herbert's ancient reljgion of the 'Gentiles. tc) Ch. xiv.
• 15. toe.
2 P 1 and.
363 The Hiftory of tbe BIBLE, Book II.
A. M. and fuperftition of the people turned in time into an ob-
i0S7, &c. je£t of religious adoration ; " the lingular diligence of the
" artificer," as our author exprefTesit, " helping to fet for-
ward the ignorant to more fuperftition : for he, perad-
venturc, willing to pleafe one in authority, forced all his
{kill to make the refemblance of the beft fafhion, and fo
the multitude, allured by the grace of the work, took him
now for a god, who a little before was but honoured as
a man."
f |,e sr0(s We cannot but obferve, however, with what elegance
ltupidity ofand fine fatire it is, that the Scripture fets off the ftupidity
it. and grofs infatuation, both of the artificer and adorer.
The carpenter heweth down cedars, and taketh the cyprefs
and the oak. He flretcheth out his rule ; he 7narketh it out
with a line ; hefitteth it with planes ; he marketh it out with
the compafs, and maketh it after the figure of a man, accor-
ding to the beauty of a man. - ■ >. He burneth part thereof
in the fire ; with part thereof he eateth fefij ; he roajleth
roafl, and is fatisfied; yea he warmeth himfelf, and faith, A-
ha! I am warm, I have fesn the fire,; and the refidue there-
of he maketh a god, even his graven image. He falleth down
unto it, and worfhippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and faith,
Deliver me, for thou art my god ; never confidering'*in his
heart, nqr having knowledge or under/landing to fay, I have
burnt part of it in the fire; yea alfo I have baked bread upon
the coals thereof: I have roaftedflefh, and eaten it; andfball
I make the refidue thereof an abomination ? Shall I fall down
to ihejlock of a tree ?
'Thelnfuffi- That rational creatures fhould be capable of fo wretch-
ciencyor £(j a degeneracy, as this amounts to, may juftly provoke^
guide Us in our wonder and amazement : and yet we may remember,
matters of that thefe people (who may poffibly be the object of our
religion. fcorn anci contempt) had the boafted light of nature to
be their guide in matters of religion. Nay, they had fome
advantages that we apparently want : they lived muc1
nearer the beginning of the world ; had the terrors of the
Lord, in the late judgment of the deluge, frefh in their
minds : had the articles of their religion comprifed in a
fmall compafs ; and (what is no bad friend to reafon and
fober recollection) lived in more fimplicity, and lefs lu-
xury, than thefe later ages can pretend to ; and yet, not-
withstanding thefe advantages, fo fadly, fo fhamefully did
they mifcarry, that the wit of a man would be at a lofs
to devife a reafon for their conduct, had not the divine
wifdom
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